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SBS 2003 mail server and third party hosting

As I'm implementing my first real SBS 2003 infrastructure (I have done it for our internal office and of course on VPC but not for an actual client), I have a question that might seem dumb to many of you but I do need to know how to get around this. Our client for whom we will be implementing their first SBS server has a website hosted on a third party server, he also creates the mail accounts that he requires through the hosting company's web-based control panel. Now that we are installing SBS, we would like to use Exchange to create accounts and send and receive email (this way once we create the user on SBS the emails accounts will be created automatically). My question is how we can accomplish this task? Basically we want the website to be hosted with this third party hosting company but we would like to have exchange take care of the email stuff. Just so you know, I'm aware of the POP3 connector and I know how I can set it up so that the emails can be read from the existing mail server but we won't be using that (basically for emails we want to start from scratch and assign proper email addresses). One last thing, the client uses a cable connection with dynamic IP.

Lee W, MVP

Recommend you do everything you can to get a static IP. While you can use a dynamic one, many ISPs (such as Verizon) block mail sent from Dynamic IPs as being probable SPAM.

That said, you just need to configure the MX record for the domain to point to the SBS Server's Public IP (Again static preferred). You may be able to configure your SBS server to relay mail through your ISP's SMTP server if you can't get a static address, but I'd try for the static address first.

Kutyi

I agree with leew, get a static IP. After you get your MX record in place to the static IP have your ISP create a Reverse DNS entry for your mail server to help prevent anti-spam bounce backs. A RDNS resolves IP address to a hostname which would be the name you give your server in your smtp connector settings that attaches to all outgoing email. SBS POP connector I have found unreliable and does not query for emails often enough.

Good luck!....:)

yourikh

ASKER

Thanks guys for the replies. I know that the static IP is the best and that ISPs block emails coming from dynmic IPs but my client as cheap as he is doesn't want to pay an extra $200 a month for the service. Now back to our issue. I logged into the client's website where he has his website hosted. There was an mx record for the domain lets say abc.com and a cname record and of course the A record. Now I deleted the mx record belonging to the domain and created a new mx record that points to the server IP. However, when we try to send an email to an email account that is created on the SBS box we get the mail bounced back to sender saying that the account does not exist. Am I doing this in a wrong way?

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Kutyi

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yourikh

ASKER

It has been 24 hours since I changed the MX record (I did that before posting my initial question) but I guess you are right; in the body of the returned mail I see that it says the original mail servers returned the mail. Here is the message (I changed the actual domain name though):

==
The original message was received at Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:23:55 -0500 (EST)
from localhost [127.0.0.1]

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
<yourikhacoupian@iabc.com>
(reason: 550 sorry, no mailbox here by that name (#5.1.1))

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to mail13.iabc.com.: <-- this is the original mail server that was set before I changed the MX record
>>> DATA
<<< 550 sorry, no mailbox here by that name (#5.1.1)
550 5.1.1 <yourikhacoupian@abc.com>... User unknown
451 4.4.1 reply: read error from mail13.abc.com.
===

Any idea why the original mail server is responding? Is there any way around this? As I mentioned before we don't want to create email addresses on the exchange and the web mail server.

Thanks for the help and sorry if I'm asking stupid questions.

Kutyi

Lookup up you MX record at DNSStuff.com a verify the MX record points to the correct IP. This may sound silly but your MX record is not an A record of something like mail.iabc.com. The other server replys because it will still take connection as DNS servers records have not become stale yet. I would have your emails setup on your Exchange Box first becuase as soon as the emails start coming in the server will bounce them all back unitl you setup the emails. Is a static IP really $200/mo? Here in Canada most providers give it out for $20/mo.

yourikh

ASKER

I checked the MX record through the DNSStuff.com; the MX section all sys passed and it points to the correct IP address. However, below the MX section there is a section called mail where I see two warnings, one of them says:

WARNING: One or more of your mailservers is claiming to be a host other than what it really is (the SMTP greeting should be a 3-digit code, followed by a space or a dash, then the host name).....

and at the end it says:

abcd.com claims to be host abc.com [but that host is at 244.259.103.95 (may be cached), not 95.260.15.67].

I have changed the IP addresses above. BTW, we are in Canada and Rogers plan for static IP is 199/month. Is there something that we are missing here?

Thanks for the help.

Kutyi

Well Telus and Shaw are not $199/mo. A Telus Plan: http://business.telus.com/en_CA/BC/products/Small_Business/Internet_And_Data/Internet_Access/details/bcSmbHighSpeedInternetAccess.html#tab2

Server: $91.95/month or $81.95/month on contract
Ideal for businesses with multiple locations that hosts Web or email servers. You receive:

10 you@telus.net email accounts; 15 you@yourcompany.com email accounts
2 static IP addresses
80GB monthly transfer
40 dial-up hours*
Up to 3.0 Mbps Downstream,1.0 Mbps Upstream

Server Elite: $161.95/month or $151.95/month on contract
You probably host your own servers and have more complicated online activities that require greater speed and bandwidth. You receive:

15 you@telus.net email accounts; 15 you@yourcompany.com email accounts
5 static IP addresses
100GB monthly transfer
60 dial-up hours
Up to 4.0 Mbps Downstream, 1.0 Mbps Upstream

yourikh

ASKER

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for the help. The mail system is working now. I guess it took more than 24 hours for the servers to propagate the new IP but it's all working now.

Kutyi

Great! Still get a static!