Re: Guideline for Exchange server in branch office

[Tom Jedrzejewicz <tomjedrz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Roger Vicker, CCP <rv-tech@xxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> The primary email server can do forwarding but that would be
> abc@xxxxxxxxxxx gets delivered to abc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> (branch.example.com would be the Exchange server). Not hard to do but
> the end users needs to send as from abc@xxxxxxxxxxxx Even when they do a
> reply or forward the next receiver needs to see only abc@xxxxxxxxxxx and
> no sign of abc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx unless they expressly go looking at
> all the headers.


The best way to do that is to have them use the primary email server!

You may be able to get Exchange to send that .. see the "email accounts"
part of the user setup.  You may also be able to get the main mail server to
force that for relayed mail, but I am not sure.

The reason for Exchange is that the user's like to a) have everything
> (mail, calendar, address book...) together in one place called Outlook
> b) have it all together and in sync when they are outside the office and
> OWA does that for them. RDP doesn't quite fit as the desktop would be
> their office PC and that would require them all to be left on 24x7x365.
> Side benefit for me would be the simplicity of just pointing Outlook at
> the server and all the user's goodies are (back) in place. All I have to
> worry about is backing up the server and not folder redirection or
> folder sync or backup agent to get it there from the desktops. Actually
> folder redirection is there, just not for the Application Data folder
> since it seems to be in more disfavor than PST files.


How about having them get email from the primary email server and use
SBS/Exchange for the calendar and contacts?  OWA will work if they need it,
and the mail system has a web portal for messages.


> I wouldn't say non-standard just not common. Some of the documents I
> have found so far show Exchange 2003 being configured as "not
> responsible for the domain" that it is configured for and using a POP3
> connector to go to the primary email server and retrieve the  specific
> list of mailboxes that it is responsible for. Emails to the same domain
> get forward if it can't be delivered locally the same as for domains
> that are truly external.


I would say "non-standard" .. the POP3 Connector is intended for getting
mail from external/ISP mail systems, not from another server in the same
domain.

Here is a technet article on the POP3 Connector
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc546479.aspx

Here is another piece of software that might be on point ...
http://www.igetmail.com/  <http://www.igetmail.com/>


> It's not a "skunk-works" project, everyone knows what is going on. It is
> just that to perform what the total organization requires the primary
> server won't be Exchange and there will be one and only one domain to
> the public perception, no sub-domains.


What does the group responsible for the email system at Corporate
think?   How does the rest of the company handle calendar and contacts?

Personally I would junk all the software and go with Thunderbird,
> Lightning and find some extension to  *automatically* sync their address
> books to the primary server. But as I said management is used to what
> they are used to and don't see any reason they should have to change
> when they can see retirement from here. However, that reason could be a
> "thorough research shows you can't get there from here."

So go with Outlook and find some software to sync the calendar and contacts.
 This <http://oggsync.com/> will do it to Google.  Heck, there might be a
way to get Outlook Calendar and Contacts to talk to the primary email
server.

What is the primary email server, anyway?

---------
Tom Jedrzejewicz
tomjedrz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx