HOW TO: Use Routing Group Connectors to Connect Routing Groups in Exchange 2000 (319416)

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to configure routing group connectors to connect routing groups in Exchange 2000. You can use routing group connectors to connect two or more Exchange Server routing groups. Routing Group connectors are preferred over Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connectors because routing group connectors are easy to configure and automatically pass on Exchange Server link state information. The transport that the Routing Group connector uses depends on the bridgehead servers selected. If any selected bridgehead is an Exchange Server 5.5 computer, Routing Group connector uses remote procedure call (RPC) for communication (Exchange Server 5.5 sees it as a site connector). If all bridgeheads are Exchange 2000 servers, Routing Group connector uses SMTP. Routing group connectors require permanent connectivity, which makes them slightly less flexible than SMTP connectors.

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Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Active Directory
• Exchange Server 2000 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• At least two routing groups (each one must contain at least one computer that is running Exchange Server)

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• The Exchange 2000 Administrator console
• The role of routing groups

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Preparations to Add a Routing Group Connector

Before you implement a routing group connector, you must perform the following tasks:

1. Configure Exchange 2000 so that routing groups (and administrative groups) are displayed in Exchange System Manager.
2. Add additional administrative groups if you require additional groups.
3. Add a second Exchange 2000 computer.
4. Make sure that you have at least two routing groups that contain at least one Exchange 2000 computer each.

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How to Add the Routing Group Connector

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Right-click the Organization Name (Exchange) icon at the top of the tree in the left pane (where Organization Name is the name that you selected for your Exchange 2000 organization), and then click Properties.
3. Click Display administrative groups, click Display routing groups, and then click OK.
4. Restart Exchange System Manager, expand Administrative Groups in the left pane, and then expand the administrative group that you want to configure.
5. Expand the Routing Groups container, and then either create a new routing group or double-click a pre-existing routing group.
6. Right-click the Connectors container, point to New, and then click Routing group connector.
7. Type a name for this routing group connector.
   
   Microsoft recommends that you use a descriptive name, such as "Connector for Paris and Boston Routing Groups."
8. Click the routing group to which you want to connect under Connects this routing group with.
   
   NOTE: You can cancel the creation of the routing group connector or rename your routing groups at this point if you want.
9. Configure a cost.
   
   You can configure a cost from 1 to 100. Microsoft recommends that you configure a cost that reflects both the physical cost of delivery and the relative preference of using this connector over any other connector. By default, routing group connectors are assigned the cost of 1, which makes them the most likely connector to be used.
10. Either select a server to send messages over this connector or select nominated servers to act as bridgeheads:
    • To designate a specific server, click These servers can send mail over this connector, click Add, click the SMTP virtual servers that you want to host this connector, and then click OK.
      
      -or-
    • To select a server in the remote routing group to which you want to connect, click the Remote Bridgehead tab, click Add button, click the required server and the SMTP virtual server instance that you want to use, and then click OK.
11. Click OK. You are prompted to create the corresponding routing group connector in the remote routing group. Click Yes to create this connector automatically.

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How to Configure the Routing Group Connector

After you create the routing group connector, configure the settings that you want to use:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Expand the Exchange 2000 hierarchy in the left pane until you find the Routing Groups container.
   
   If the Administrative Groups container is displayed, the Routing Groups container is in the respective administrative group.
3. Expand the Routing Groups container, and then double-click the routing group that contains the routing group connector that you want to configure.
4. Right-click the routing group connector that you want to configure, and then click Properties.
5. Click the Delivery Restrictions tab, and then configure the users who can send mail by using this connector.
   
   All messages are accepted by default. To prevent users from sending mail by using this connector, add these users to the Reject messages from list. Alternatively, click Rejected, and then add users to the Accept messages from list.
6. To add a recipient from either the Accept or the Reject list, click Add, click the user or contact name that you want to accept or reject, and then click OK.
7. Click the Content Restrictions tab.
8. Under Allowed priorities, click the message priority levels that are allowed through this connector.
   
   If you use a routing group connector, you may not want to restrict usage in this manner because routing group connectors generally run across reasonably fast, permanent links. To prevent messages of a certain priority level from using this connector, click to clear the appropriate check box.
9. Click Allowed Types, and then click either System messages and Non-system messages to indicate the types of messages that are sent over this connector.
   
   Because routing group connectors are exclusively used to link Exchange 2000 routing groups, you will want both system messages and non-system messages to traverse this link.
10. Click to select the Allowed sizes check box, and then type the upper limit in kilobytes (KB) for messages that propagate over this connector.
    
    Oversize messages are either sent over another connector or are returned with a non-delivery report (NDR).
11. Click the Delivery Options tab, and then specify the time that you want the connector to run.
    
    The default setting is Specify when messages are sent through this connector with the delivery frequency set to Always run. Alternatively, you can either click a pre-configured time from the drop-down list box or click Customize to specify the times that you want the connector to deliver messages.
12. To configure different settings for oversized values:
    1. Click Use different delivery times for oversize messages, and then specify a value for oversize messages, for example, 1000 KB.
    2. Under Connection time, either click a time or click Customize.
    3. Type the times when you want to deliver oversize mail, and then click OK.
       
       NOTE: You do not have to configure a size value for oversize mail that exceeds the Allowed Sizes setting on the Content Restrictions tab.
13. Click OK to accept the changes.

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How to Confirm That You Configured the Routing Group Connector Correctly

To confirm that the routing group connector is working as expected:

1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Click Tools in the left pane.
3. Expand Tools, expand Monitoring, expand Status, and then expand Status.
   
   Confirm that two objects are listed for each routing group connector (one for each end). The Status column indicates the current state of the link.

Additionally, you can configure the Notification functionality so that you get a message or a script-based notification if one of the connectors stops responding.

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Troubleshooting

You may have issues configuring routing group connectors if you have not performed the preparation tasks. You must have two or more routing groups already configured and each routing group must have at least one instance of an SMTP virtual server in it.

If DNS name resolution is not working as expected, you cannot connect your two routing groups.

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