multiple sites issue

[mikeleahy]

Hi

i have a customer who has multiple sites , all running their own domain and email address etc. i would like to know if the following would work...

buy five new servers
build them with server 2003
all join one domain with AD replication , dns etc
configure them in sites and services with appropriate subnet

install exchange 2003 on each of them. join all exchange servers to same exchange organisation so there would be 5 servers in the organisation. create users and put mailboxes on appropriate information store (each site)
and away we go..

is there any limitation to how many servers you can have in the organisation.i would be configuring them all in the office with the same subnet and then movin them to the remote sites. i would then point all mx records to one external ip and get the exchange recipient policies to access the mail from all old @whatever etc.

would this work. i need to draw up a plan for this a.s.a.p so appreciate any help

 

[Roadki11]

Sounds like a lot of hardware and licensing costs. Maybe you should rethink the needs of the organization? How many users total, what type of WAN links, have they proven reliable? Why not go with this setup: 2 new servers to be a DC and backup DC, a 3rd server to be an exchange server for the entire organization, setup a small NAS for file storage at each of the other locations that wont have a server. Put the 3 servers at the location closest to you for ease of support.

Just my 2 cents,

RoadKi11

 

[mikeleahy]

hey. thanks for your input. small number of users in each site.why you say two new servers. there are five sites.how would one exchange server serve the needs of the whole organisation. the wan links are permanent sonicwall vpns so they are broadband, not leased line. opening outlook over the these remotes links would be too slow.

 

[Roadki11]

Not sure why you think exchange would be slow over the wan. We have 6 locations 4 with frames and 2 with dsl vpns, the slowest is a frame at 384 and exchange works fine over that slow link. I just dont think you need that much hardware if you have less than 150 users total. only reason i would put a DC and or exchange server at each site is if the WAN links go down a lot or you have a ton of users, 300+, or maybe you have some other reason im not privy to. its also bad policy to run an exchange server on a DC anyway. would make for better security also, instead of half a dozen exchange servers exposed to the internet you would only have 1. there is probably a dozen ways to skin this cat, im just giving you my opinion this.

RoadKi11

 

[reynolwi]

I would agree with roadkill, thats a lot of hardware for such a small setup. I have 2 sites with 2 servers and sn exchange server and thats kinda overkill for us. Basically like he suggested would work since you have permently connected VPNs. My exchange server sits with me and the primary AD server and the other sever is at the remote site and the users over there connect thru the VPN link to exchange and its fine for them, and they are on a slower link connecting than my link.

If anything, even though its overkill, you can put a (1) server at each remote site so that its there and clients can authenticate a little faster, but 1 exchange server is more than enough.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS

http://www.rrwds.com

http://www.txpubsafety.com

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[mikeleahy]

would i have to use cached exchange mode in outlook