Hi there Experts,
I sent an email yesterday that keeps bouncing back saying that the IP address is on a SPAM black list, I paniced & checked the Exchange server only to find out that it is using a Smarthost in the SMTPVS.
My question is....why would this be setup? & What are the consequences of removing this address from the Advanced section of the Delivery Tab in the Exchange 2003 SMTPVS tab.
I have called the ISP & they suggest not to use the Smarthost for thier domain, but then I don't know what it will do to my outgoing email if I remove the address.
Thansk
Miff
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hmmm...
thanks but what is best practice then?
It is a single Exchange Server, should I just use DNS or is it a good thing to use the ISP smarthost?
I notice that there is NO connector setup, only an SMTPVS is setup under Protocols.
It would appear that my ISP Smarthost IP address has been added to Comcast blacklist, this leads me to believe that I should not use smart host.
This is not effecting all outgoing mail just ones to comcast.
Thanks
Miff
Miffanwee,
I would remove the smarthost as a minimum. I would also setup a connector in ESM. This would then mean you are running exchange as it's supposed to be setup. Then if you need to add another server at any time, everything will be ready. You can also create different connectors for partners etc if necessary.
Chris
Miffanwee,
Sembee's info on creating connectors.
http://www.amset.info/exch
Chris
One thing to check before you remove the smarthost: some ISPs simply do not allow traffic on port 25 to mail servers other than their own (notably Bellsouth, although certain business accounts are excepted I'm sure), in which case you're forced to stick with the smarthost. This may have been the reason it's there in the first place.
I would still advise you to move the smarthost config to an SMTP connector rather than on the VS.
It's a simple, quick and easy change that you can do without interrupting the flow of mail.
1. Add the SMTP connector and configure the SmartHost setting and bridgehead server.
2. Remove the SmartHost setting from the SMTP VS.
This should mean that Exchange will then keep the SmartHost setting in place and is then able to communicate with other Exchange servers if you expand or need to migrate to another server.
Hi Interax,
I have followed your instructions above & I have moved the Smarthost away from the SMTPVS and placed in the SMTP connector.
Email works fine.
As for removing smarthost altogether I will see if I can meet the AOL requirements before I do this as I think that this is why smarthost is in place.
My ISP recommend using our own DNS instead of smarthost for blacklist reasons but I need to find out where to start with that one.
I know I have DNS running on our server but don't know what to do to enable it for email stuff.
Any pointers would be a great help, I am off to read up on AOL requirements.
Many thanks for your input
Regards
Miff
Ok, Yes our DNS server can resolve external addresses.
So in order to follow the ISP advise am I right in thinking that I just remove all reference to the Smarthost that I setup in the connector section of Exchange?
So when you say "Exchange will just query the DNS server...." that is what will happen if aI remove the smarthost ref, or is there any other config I have to do to Exchange?
Thanks for your knowledge
Miff
There should be no special requirements for Exchange to query the DNS. Just remove the SmartHost, then Exchange uses the host servers DNS client to query the DNS servers setup on the system. Just make sure your server can connect to any destination host using port 25 and that your firewall won't block this.
Also, monitor the queues when you make this change to check that your emails are still being sent.
I use Performance Monitor to check for current inbound connections, current outbound connections, messages recieved/sec, messages sent/sec, remote queue length and messages in queue directory. This should show what is happening on the server.
I also monitor Connections rejected by BL providers and Recipients rejected by Directory Lookups to keep an eye on the amount of SPAM we are recieveing/blocking.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: InteraXPosted on 2007-05-02 at 05:18:02ID: 19015018
Hello Miffanwee,
Using a smarthost routes all your traffic from that VS via the host specified.
In Exch 2K3 SmartHosts should be setup on the SMTP connector, rather than the VS. This is because the VS is used for inter server connectivity within the exchange organisation. You can still use a smarthost, but set it up on the connector.
Removing the SmartHost will cause the system to use DNS to resolve the MX records for the destination domain and will send all emails direct from your server to the target domain's server.
If your IP or a block of IP's that your are part of is blocked by a DNSBL or something else, this will not fix the problem. You can check this by using www.whatismyip.com to get your normal public IP and then use www.dnsstuff.com to check the SPAM lists for your IP. Your email server may have an alternate public IP for SMTP. You would need to check the NATing on the firewall/router for this.
Regards,
Chris