Multple Sites

[John]

Dear NG, first of all I would like to sincerely apologize.one for my long
post and two for multi posting, I'm desperately searching for answers here
and I'm not sure which group will reach the right audience, I would really
really appreciate any help, I need an answer asap.



Here is my scenario, I have two sites one in CA and one in NY connected Via
a VPN, we have about 30 users in CA and 15 users in NY, I have to lay out a
AD structure as well as an exchange solutions, here is what I have so
far....



I will have two servers in CA, one DC/file server and one exchange as well
as two servers in NY also one DC and one exchange, I will create just one
big domain with two AD sites so that logon request are processed locally, as
well as the user mailbox will reside on the local exchange server so that
the mailbox is opened locally, and finally I will utilize a software based
WAFS solution for data access where the CA domain controller/file server is
the source and master while the NY domain controller/file server is the
destination remote site. Am I good and correct so far or am I off?



1) First question does AD by default replicate across sites, or do I need to
specifically specify that replication should occur between the two domain
controllers?



2) If MX 10 points to CA and MX 20 to NY then all SMTP servers across the
world should first try the exchange server in CA, which means that if I send
an email to a mailbox on the NY exchange server, it will travel to CA and
that will send it to the NY exchange server, so say the link between CA and
NY is down will the CA exchange server hold the email and wait for NY to
come online or will it bounce it, same question vise verse if CA (MX 10) is
down which means that all emails will travel to the NY exchange server (MX
20), will NY hold the email and wait CA to come online?



3) Does it make sense to create a sub domain for NY so that bob in NY is
(e-mail address removed) and then point ny.domain.com directly to the NY exchange
server, and if so will question 2 still apply, also can I configure the
recipient policy to update users based on its mailbox location?



4) If I don't create a sub domain and I want that all emails should always
be delivered to all mailboxes, would the use of routing groups be any
advantage?



5) Will each location see a separate set of public folders or just one (the
same) public folder tree? If they are separate sets of public folders is it
possible to change it to just one public folder set? And if not will it
replicate automatically?



6) Is the following true, when utilizing AD sites if a user in NY emails to
another user in NY, the NY exchange server will handle the email transfer
locally and not involve the CA exchange server?



7) Can any user open OWA to access their mailbox from any server, or is OWA
restricted to where the mailbox is located?



8) I would like to redirect everybodys My Documents to the users Homedir,
being that im using WAFS should I redirect the NY users to the CA file
server or just redirect locally

 

[Leif Pedersen [MVP]]

Hi,

Answers inline.

Leif

Dear NG, first of all I would like to sincerely apologize.one for my long
post and two for multi posting, I'm desperately searching for answers here
and I'm not sure which group will reach the right audience, I would really
really appreciate any help, I need an answer asap.



Here is my scenario, I have two sites one in CA and one in NY connected
Via a VPN, we have about 30 users in CA and 15 users in NY, I have to lay
out a AD structure as well as an exchange solutions, here is what I have
so far....



I will have two servers in CA, one DC/file server and one exchange as well
as two servers in NY also one DC and one exchange, I will create just one
big domain with two AD sites so that logon request are processed locally,
as well as the user mailbox will reside on the local exchange server so
that the mailbox is opened locally, and finally I will utilize a software
based WAFS solution for data access where the CA domain controller/file
server is the source and master while the NY domain controller/file server
is the destination remote site. Am I good and correct so far or am I off?

Apart for the WAFS software which I know nothing about - this should be
fine.

1) First question does AD by default replicate across sites, or do I need
to specifically specify that replication should occur between the two
domain controllers?

Active directory will replicate by default

2) If MX 10 points to CA and MX 20 to NY then all SMTP servers across the
world should first try the exchange server in CA, which means that if I
send an email to a mailbox on the NY exchange server, it will travel to CA
and that will send it to the NY exchange server, so say the link between
CA and NY is down will the CA exchange server hold the email and wait for
NY to come online or will it bounce it, same question vise verse if CA (MX
10) is down which means that all emails will travel to the NY exchange
server (MX 20), will NY hold the email and wait CA to come online?

If you create 2 MX records all destined for the domain mail will normally
arive at the server with the highest priority. If the other server or the
link to this server is down mail will stay in queue for a couple of days.

3) Does it make sense to create a sub domain for NY so that bob in NY is
(e-mail address removed) and then point ny.domain.com directly to the NY exchange
server, and if so will question 2 still apply, also can I configure the
recipient policy to update users based on its mailbox location?

You can configure the recipient policy to create email addresses based on
mailbox or server location so it will be possible to create a sub SMTP
domain name for some of the users if you so desire

4) If I don't create a sub domain and I want that all emails should always
be delivered to all mailboxes, would the use of routing groups be any
advantage?

I would create 2 routing groups and routing group connectors to connect the
servers

5) Will each location see a separate set of public folders or just one
(the same) public folder tree? If they are separate sets of public folders
is it possible to change it to just one public folder set? And if not will
it replicate automatically?

Depends of your routing group connector and the permissions you assign to
the users, but with the proper permissions all users can see all public
folders. If you have public folders with a lot of trafic I would recommend
that you create a replica on both servers

6) Is the following true, when utilizing AD sites if a user in NY emails
to another user in NY, the NY exchange server will handle the email
transfer locally and not involve the CA exchange server?

This has nothing to do with AD sites, but you are correct. All mails for
users on the same server stay internal to that server.

7) Can any user open OWA to access their mailbox from any server, or is
OWA restricted to where the mailbox is located?

Users can start OWA and connect to any server from the intranet - if their
mailbox then is located on the other server they will be redirected. If you
refer to connection from the internet they will need to connect to their own
server (you must publish both Exchange servers to the internet

8) I would like to redirect everybodys My Documents to the users Homedir,
being that im using WAFS should I redirect the NY users to the CA file
server or just redirect locally

Can't answer this one as WAFS is unknown to me.

 

[Jeniffer K]

Leif, thanks for your reply, i worked with you comments, but now i'd like
some understanding, see inline

Hi,

Answers inline.

Leif



Apart for the WAFS software which I know nothing about - this should be
fine.

its a file share solutions across a WAN at LAN speed

Active directory will replicate by default

then when is AD not replicating, maybe across differnt domains in the same
forest

If you create 2 MX records all destined for the domain mail will normally
arive at the server with the highest priority. If the other server or the
link to this server is down mail will stay in queue for a couple of days.

will it keep it for a couple of days only because its a second exchange
server in the domain or is it by default keeping all undeliverable mail in
the queue, and either way is this configurable

You can configure the recipient policy to create email addresses based on
mailbox or server location so it will be possible to create a sub SMTP
domain name for some of the users if you so desire

I would create 2 routing groups and routing group connectors to connect
the servers

what benefit or advantage will have by creating routing groups, keep in mind
that I cant put a restriction on when mail should be delivered

Depends of your routing group connector and the permissions you assign to
the users, but with the proper permissions all users can see all public
folders. If you have public folders with a lot of trafic I would recommend
that you create a replica on both servers

so will that answer my pervious question, will the other site not see both
public folders with out a routing group? and how will it show up assuming
its setup properly will it also show up in the public folder tree in outlook

 

[Leif Pedersen [MVP]]

Hi,

Answers inline.

Leif

Leif, thanks for your reply, i worked with you comments, but now i'd like
some understanding, see inline


its a file share solutions across a WAN at LAN speed

then when is AD not replicating, maybe across differnt domains in the same
forest

In a default configuration (without any configured site links) AD will also
replicate between domains in the same forest as long as there are
connectivity - there is a process called KCC that creates these replication
links automatically.

will it keep it for a couple of days only because its a second exchange
server in the domain or is it by default keeping all undeliverable mail in
the queue, and either way is this configurable

The mails will stay in the queue for at least 48 hours - this is standard
SMTP behaviour and can be configured on the default SMTP virtuel server.

what benefit or advantage will have by creating routing groups, keep in
mind that I cant put a restriction on when mail should be delivered

If not using routing groups Exchange servers are talking RPC to each other -
this protocol is more trafic intensive than SMTP which is used between
routing groups.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822929/en-us

so will that answer my pervious question, will the other site not see both
public folders with out a routing group? and how will it show up assuming
its setup properly will it also show up in the public folder tree in
outlook

Public folders will be seen regardless of routing group configuration (you
can prohibit public folder referral over routing group connector) assuming
that the users have permissions to the folders.

 

[Herb Martin]

Dear NG, first of all I would like to sincerely apologize.one for my long
post and two for multi posting, I'm desperately searching for answers here
and I'm not sure which group will reach the right audience, I would really
really appreciate any help, I need an answer asap.

It's actually a crosspost ( single message posted to multiple
newsgroups TOGETHER) rather than a multipost (the content but
separate messages to multiple newsgroups which is generally bad.)

Reasonable crossposting to relevant groups is preferred since then
everyone on all such groups can follow and participate in a single
discussion of the problem.

Five groups is a pushing it a bit, but they all seem they might
be relevant.

No apologies needed for a long post, if that is what it takes.
Only disadvantage is that some people just might skip your post
if it exceeds their available time or attention span.

Here is my scenario, I have two sites one in CA and one in NY connected Via
a VPN, we have about 30 users in CA and 15 users in NY, I have to lay out a
AD structure as well as an exchange solutions, here is what I have so
far....

I will have two servers in CA, one DC/file server and one exchange as well
as two servers in NY also one DC and one exchange, I will create just one
big domain with two AD sites so that logon request are processed locally, as
well as the user mailbox will reside on the local exchange server so that
the mailbox is opened locally, and finally I will utilize a software based
WAFS solution for data access where the CA domain controller/file server is
the source and master while the NY domain controller/file server is the
destination remote site. Am I good and correct so far or am I off?



1) First question does AD by default replicate across sites, or do I need to
specifically specify that replication should occur between the two domain
controllers?

Your question needs to have some (incorrect) assumptions removed
first, but you do NOT need to set up replication between each pair
of DCs manually IF you setup your Sites AND SiteLINKS correctly.

Each site must be defined -- to include defining the local subnets for
that site AND by specifying which DCs "live" in that site (usually
automatic if you do the Site definition correct but sometimes this needs
adjusting if you change settings or move DCs.

THEN, you must ADD SITELINKS so that every Site is connected to at least
one other site, and NO "islands" of disconnected sites exist -- with
three sites this just means a minimum of two SiteLinks but three may or
may not be better.

IF you create both the Sites AND the Sitelinks correctly THEN the "KCC"
will create the actual connections between pairs of DC across sites.

So, no it's not quite automatic if you only create sites, but yes the
connections are automatic if you do it right.

2) If MX 10 points to CA and MX 20 to NY then all SMTP servers across the
world should first try the exchange server in CA, which means that if I send
an email to a mailbox on the NY exchange server, it will travel to CA and
that will send it to the NY exchange server, so say the link between CA and
NY is down will the CA exchange server hold the email and wait for NY to
come online or will it bounce it, same question vise verse if CA (MX 10) is
down which means that all emails will travel to the NY exchange server (MX
20), will NY hold the email and wait CA to come online?

The mail will typically be held, but there are definable limits for how
long on all SMTP servers (including Exchange). Eventually (days
probably) the email would time out.

3) Does it make sense to create a sub domain for NY so that bob in NY is
(e-mail address removed) and then point ny.domain.com directly to the NY exchange
server, and if so will question 2 still apply, also can I configure the
recipient policy to update users based on its mailbox location?

There is little reason in such a simple situation to create a separate
domain for AD. If you wish a separate email domain that is more of a
convenience decision OR you could use this to SWAP the MX priority in
different zones.

All this can be done separately from AD. I would (almost certainly)
not recommend another AD domain.

As to DNS/email domain, that is going to be reflected in your email
addresses and you will need to consider if the extra (email) efficiency
is worth the human confusion (users need to communicate their email to
business acquaintances, business cards etc.) AND the admin overhead.

4) If I don't create a sub domain and I want that all emails should always
be delivered to all mailboxes, would the use of routing groups be any
advantage?

You will have to ask an Exchange expert the Exchange specific questions.

5) Will each location see a separate set of public folders or just one (the
same) public folder tree? If they are separate sets of public folders is it
possible to change it to just one public folder set? And if not will it
replicate automatically?
Ditto

6) Is the following true, when utilizing AD sites if a user in NY emails to
another user in NY, the NY exchange server will handle the email transfer
locally and not involve the CA exchange server?

As long as the NY user is configure to send email through the NY
email server. Sites don't play a role here. Users (email agent)
deliver email to the email server and that server has the account
for the destination address then it doesn't need to go elsewhere.

7) Can any user open OWA to access their mailbox from any server, or is OWA
restricted to where the mailbox is located?

You need an OWA expert here, but in general the OWA server will need
to be able to contact any email server which has (a different set of)
email accounts it needs. Authentication will work fine if it all one
domain, and likely if it is all one forest SHOULD you end up with
more than one AD domain (in the same forest) which seems unnecessary
anyway.

8) I would like to redirect everybodys My Documents to the users Homedir,
being that im using WAFS should I redirect the NY users to the CA file
server or just redirect locally

Why would you put the NY users' home directory (and therefore also My
Docs) on the "wrong" server?

Assign home directories on local servers or you will eat up your VPN
bandwidth when using roaming profiles, especially if your My Documents
are not separated.

You CAN put My Documents in a DIFFERENT location than the Home or
Profile directories (which seems to be the opposite of what you said).

There are advantages and disadvantages to all combinations of roaming
vs. local, together versus separate directories for these folders,
offline file caching versus server storage (only) or local storage
(only).

You just have to work through the usage patterns, requirements
(performance, file availability, backup, etc.), bandwidth available,
mobility of users OR SEPARATELY of users with laptops, etc.

These represent criteria for design tradeoffs which you can't know
for CERTAIN until you put (some of) it into practice. You can get
a rough idea by collecting the requirements (from the business) and
defining the hardware and network (etc.) limitations.

 

[John]

Herb, thanks for your response and term correction, crosspost was obviously
what I was trying to say