XCON: Mail Is Processed Outbound to the Internet When Using a "*" Address Space (279404)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
This article was previously published under Q279404

SYMPTOMS

When you configure the Exchange Server 5.5 Internet Mail Service with an address space of "*" that is restricted to a site scope, when you send mail from a remote site, the mail is still processed as outbound to the Internet by the Internet Mail Service.

CAUSE

In Exchange 5.5, the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) is responsible for all routing decisions in the site. The MTA routes on a hop-by-hop basis, and is not aware of previous MTA routing decisions. When mail enters this site, the local MTAs realize that the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) route is available. They then route the mail to the local Internet Mail Service.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The explanation in this section is based on the following scenario:
  • SiteA: (Internet Mail Service scope setting: Organization)
  • SiteB: (Internet Mail Service scope setting: This Site)
  • Both Internet Mail Services have an address space of "*" and a cost of 1.
  • All servers in SiteA and SiteB are Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 3 (SP3) builds.
  • SiteA is connected to SiteB by a site connector; SiteA and SiteB are connected to one or more downstream sites (OtherSites) by X.400 connectors.
  • SiteB is a hub for OtherSites2
To configure the scope settings for the Internet Mail Service, follow these steps:
  1. Start the Exchange Administrator program.
  2. Right-click Internet Mail Service, click Properties, and then click the Address Space tab.
  3. Edit the properties of the address space, and then click the Restrictions tab.
  4. The scope setting is set to Organization by default. The two other options for scope are This Site and This Location.
If you configure the scope setting for the Internet Mail Service in SiteB to This Site, the SMTP route is not known or replicated outside of this site. The MTAs in OtherSites2 are only aware of the SMTP address space setting for SiteA; therefore, they route Internet mail to SiteA. On the way to SiteA, mail passes through SiteB. When mail bound for the Internet enters this site, it is routed correctly because the MTAs in SiteB are aware of a local SMTP route.

If you configure the scope setting to This Location, the route is only known to the present server, or group of servers in this site. If Internet mail is processed by this server or group of servers (location), mail may be routed to the scoped address space.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB279404
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