I'm creating a new Exchange 2010 environment to replace the DeskNow system that my company is using currently. I don't have any experience with Exchange at all. I have the main roles installed and they appear to be working internally. AD is doing its job; I can hook up Outlook 2007 with next to no effort. I can even get to OWA. By all indications I have a working internal mail system (that nobody is using at the moment).
Now I want to be able to exchange mail with the Internets. I've been reading a few books on the subject and everyone says that I don't need an Edge Transport server – but that's as far as they go. They don't tell me how to set up Internet mail exchange without the Edge Transport server, they just go right into how to set one up and how to use it as an SMTP gateway.
So I turn to you. How does mail get to the Internet without the Edge Transport server? What goes in my DMZ? And, if everyone agrees that I need one, can it be a virtual machine or do I need an entirely new server?
Best Answer
You are correct, you don't need an Edge Transport server. Exchange should have already created what you need to communicate with the outside world, it just needs a bit of tweaking.
In the Exchange Management Console, go to Organisation Configuration => Hub Transport and click on the Send Connectors tab and create a new one. Have handy your ISPs Smart Host information so you can put it into this dialog. When asked for an address scope, type an asterisk (*).
Exchange will have created you a default Receive Connector so you can receive emails. You will need to go into the properties of this and on the Permission Groups tab check the box for Anonymous Users so you can receive email from the internet.
On your firewall you should configure port 25 to be port forwarded to your Exchange server (to receive email), and it's probably not a bad idea to restrict port 25 through the firewall so only your Exchange server can pass traffic on port 25.