SBS2003 Exchange, Outlook 2003 and POP

[david.jeffreys]

Hi all,
I have a problem with our configuration of Exchange Server and the use
of POP by the clients. I'll give as much information as possible and
would appreciate a little help and a few suggestions! Thanks.

<Background>
We have an SBS 2003 server running exchange.
The exchange server is not configured to collect email from any ISP,
and is not the target of any MX records.
The exchange server has an SMTP connector configured to send email out
via a SMART host.
All mail is collected directly by the Outlook 2003 clients using POP
mail collection. This mail is then stored in the Exchange mailbox for
that user.
When clients log into the domain the default mail account is the
Exchange Server and all newly composed emails are sent via this
account.

<The Problem>
A.)
If a mobile user is working offsite, all new emails they compose are
sent via the Exchange account and don't get sent until they return to
the office.
If they reply to a received email (since all email are received via the
POP account) then the mail will be sent successfully.

B.)
If an office worker sends an email to the user who is working offsite,
this mail is sent via the Exchange Server (since it is the default
account). Since a user by this name has a mailbox on the exchange
server, the outgoing mail will not be sent via the SMART host and is
dropped into the target users mailbox. This means that the user working
offsite will not receive this email until they return to the office.

<Potential Solutions?>
1. Set the POP mail account as the default account. -This solves the
problem until the user logs out and back in again. The exchange account
is reset to the default. Is there a way to fix this?

2. Scrap the popmail collection and have it all done by the server, and
have the offsite users access the Exchange Server via a VPN. -Since the
offsite users in some cases only have dial-up, then their folder
synchronisation would cripple the connection.

3. Have the Exchange server do the POP mail collection and have the
offsite users access the Exchange Server using OWA. -This would work
with some configuration but isn't ideal as it means that the users have
one way of doing things in the office and another way when they're
offsite.

The Managing Director is not satisfied to have all mail going directly
to the server as he is concerned about the reliability of the server
and has bad experiences with a dodgy server before. This means that
using an MX is not an option, and having the Exchange server collect
the emails isn't an option. (unless the POP mail collection can be
configured by the Exchange Server to leave a copy on the ISP for 10
days or something. But this isn't an answer as offsite users do not
have access to the Exchange server).

The current situation means that users are not receiving emails for
extended periods of time.
Does anyone have any elogant/simple solution to this problem? I think
the simplest method would be the proposed solution 1 above, but I don't
know how to do this.

Thanks in advance for any useful suggestions or feedback!

 

[Roady [MVP]]

1) This is because SBS wasn't designed for this. Anyway;
Set the following key
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\ClientSetup\NoTransportOrder
Set the value to 1

2) It won't. If Outlook detects it is on a slow connection to Exchange it
will automatically switch to Headers only. If this is for some reason not
being detected (because the initial connection is over a LAN) you can set it
yourself by selecting the Connected/Online/Off line icon in the right lower
corner.

3) Better is to configure the MX records then as well instead of using a
POP3 connector. There won't be any need for it anymore. Additional benefit
of offering OWA is that you won't have to deal with client side
(mis)configurations anymore.

4) Configuring the MX records for your domain won't lead to loss of e-mail
when the server is down. A fallback "record" can be configured at your ISP
level so that they will store your mail when it cannot be delivered because
you're down.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----
Hi all,
I have a problem with our configuration of Exchange Server and the use
of POP by the clients. I'll give as much information as possible and
would appreciate a little help and a few suggestions! Thanks.

<Background>
We have an SBS 2003 server running exchange.
The exchange server is not configured to collect email from any ISP,
and is not the target of any MX records.
The exchange server has an SMTP connector configured to send email out
via a SMART host.
All mail is collected directly by the Outlook 2003 clients using POP
mail collection. This mail is then stored in the Exchange mailbox for
that user.
When clients log into the domain the default mail account is the
Exchange Server and all newly composed emails are sent via this
account.

<The Problem>
A.)
If a mobile user is working offsite, all new emails they compose are
sent via the Exchange account and don't get sent until they return to
the office.
If they reply to a received email (since all email are received via the
POP account) then the mail will be sent successfully.

B.)
If an office worker sends an email to the user who is working offsite,
this mail is sent via the Exchange Server (since it is the default
account). Since a user by this name has a mailbox on the exchange
server, the outgoing mail will not be sent via the SMART host and is
dropped into the target users mailbox. This means that the user working
offsite will not receive this email until they return to the office.

<Potential Solutions?>
1. Set the POP mail account as the default account. -This solves the
problem until the user logs out and back in again. The exchange account
is reset to the default. Is there a way to fix this?

2. Scrap the popmail collection and have it all done by the server, and
have the offsite users access the Exchange Server via a VPN. -Since the
offsite users in some cases only have dial-up, then their folder
synchronisation would cripple the connection.

3. Have the Exchange server do the POP mail collection and have the
offsite users access the Exchange Server using OWA. -This would work
with some configuration but isn't ideal as it means that the users have
one way of doing things in the office and another way when they're
offsite.

The Managing Director is not satisfied to have all mail going directly
to the server as he is concerned about the reliability of the server
and has bad experiences with a dodgy server before. This means that
using an MX is not an option, and having the Exchange server collect
the emails isn't an option. (unless the POP mail collection can be
configured by the Exchange Server to leave a copy on the ISP for 10
days or something. But this isn't an answer as offsite users do not
have access to the Exchange server).

The current situation means that users are not receiving emails for
extended periods of time.
Does anyone have any elogant/simple solution to this problem? I think
the simplest method would be the proposed solution 1 above, but I don't
know how to do this.

Thanks in advance for any useful suggestions or feedback!

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Also on #2 - if you must use a pop3 connector, get a decent one. The only
thing good about the one in sbs is the cost. I don't know if any of the ones
listed at http://www.slipstick.com/exs/popconnect.htm is any better than the
one I use (PopBeamer) but most of them should be much better than the one in
SBS and can deliver to any SMTP address including mail enabled public
folders.

 

[david.jeffreys]

Thanks for your help! The registry entry resolved the problem.
With a quick google I found out that this registry key needs to be
added on the client computer, and the registry value needs to be a
string value.
Thanks.