HOW TO: Use Routing Group Connectors to Connect Routing Groups in Exchange Server 2003

This step-by-step article describes how to configure Routing Group connectors to connect routing groups in Exchange Server 2003. 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 that you select. If any selected bridgehead is an Exchange Server 5.5 computer, Routing Group connectors use remote procedure call (RPC) for communication (Exchange Server 5.5 sees it as a site connector). If all bridgeheads are Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server computers or Exchange 2003 computers, Routing Group connectors use SMTP. Routing Group connectors are slightly less flexible than SMTP connectors because they require permanent connectivity.

Requirements

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

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
• Microsoft Active Directory directory service
• Exchange Server 2003
• 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 2003 Administrator console
• The role of routing groups

Preparations to Add a Routing Group Connector

Before you can implement a Routing Group connector, you must complete the following steps:

1. Configure Exchange 2003 so that Exchange System Manager displays routing groups and administrative groups.
2. Add additional administrative groups if you require additional groups.
3. Add a second Exchange 2003 computer.
4. Make sure that you have at least two routing groups that contain at least one Exchange 2003 computer each.

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 Organization_Name (Exchange), 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, 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. On the General tab, in the Name box, 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. In the Connects this routing group with list, click the name of the routing group that you want to connect to.
   
   Note If you want to cancel the Routing Group connector or to rename your routing groups, you can do so at this point.
9. In the Cost box, type a number from 1 to 100 to configure a cost. 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, making 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 that you want to connect to, click Any local server can send mail over this connector click the Remote Bridgehead tab, click Add, click the required server and the SMTP virtual server instance that you want to use, and then click OK.
11. Click OK; when you are prompted to create the corresponding Routing Group connector in the remote routing group, click Yes to create this connector automatically.

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. If the Display administrative groups option is turned on, expand Administrative Groups, and then expand First Administrative Group (where First Administrative Group is the name of your administrative group).
   
   Note To display administrative groups, right-click Your_Organization, click Properties, click to select the Display administrative groups check box, click OK two times, and then restart Exchange System Manager.
3. Expand Routing Groups, 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.
   
   By default, all messages are accepted. 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, and then click the message priority levels that are permitted through this connector under Allowed priorities.
8. Click Allowed Types, and then click 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 want both system messages and non-system messages to traverse this link.
9. 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).
10. 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 list, or you can click Customize to specify the times that you want the connector to deliver messages.
11. 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.
12. Click OK to accept the changes.

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. Expand Tools, expand Monitoring and Status, and then expand Status.
3. 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 receive a message or a script-based notification if one of the connectors stops responding.

Troubleshoot

You may have issues when you configure 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 Domain Name System (DNS) name resolution is not working as expected, you cannot connect your two routing groups.

For more information about how to configure routing groups in Exchange Server 2003, see the Exchange Server 2003 Resource Kit and Exchange Server 2003 Help.