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It is believed that many inexperienced people don't know what to do about how to convert Exchange version based on Active Directory routing. Therefore, this paper summarizes the causes and solutions of the problem. Through this article, I hope you can solve this problem.

Exchange Server 2007 uses a routing topology based on links to Active Directory directory service sites and IP sites, which is one of the differences from previous Exchange Server versions. The details are as follows.

Are you still waiting to convert from Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server to Exchange Server 2007? You'll soon like all the commands available in the Exchange Management Shell-a great feature that even administrators who are used to using wizards can learn quickly. Moreover, you will be happy to adopt server-based rules and all anti-spam enhancements. However, you may be hesitant to abandon all routing groups and maintain mail flow when systematically upgrading your Exchange organization. No problem. Let me explain!

New Exchange 2007 routing Topology

One of the changes between earlier versions of Exchange Server and Exchange 2007 was to switch to a routing topology based on links to Active Directory directory service sites and IP sites, rather than based on routing groups and routing group connectors. Some Exchange administrators may think that they have lost control of the routing topology, but don't worry about it. There are many reasons for doing so. When the Active Directory routing behavior does not match the way you want Exchange messages to flow, you can use the tools provided with Exchange 2007 to adjust it. In addition, improved network utilization of Active Directory site-based routing is also good for you, and you no longer need to maintain the routing topology.

In our Exchange 2007 planning guide, we will highlight all the parts that must be documented in the current topology. This includes the configuration of links to Active Directory and IP sites, the location of domain controllers and global catalog servers, the configuration of existing routing groups and routing group connectors, and the location of currently deployed Exchange servers. I know it takes a lot of information to sort out.

Fortunately, the Microsoft Exchange * practice analysis tool can help you quickly understand your network and let you know whether the current topology is suitable for Exchange 2007. The tool can also advise you on improvements that can be made before deploying * Exchange 2007 servers.

By the way, when coexisting with Exchange 2007, Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 behave in the same way. Therefore, unless otherwise stated in the documentation, you can assume that everything that applies to Exchange 2003 also applies to Exchange 2000.

Make a conversion

If you are managing an Exchange server or if your Active Directory environment has only one website, you don't have to worry. When you deploy * Exchange 2007 servers with the Hub Transport server role installed, a routing group connector is established between different versions of Exchange Server servers so that mail continues to flow when mailboxes are moved to an external domain and any connectors are moved to an external domain from servers running earlier versions of Exchange Server to Exchange 2007. If your Exchange organization is running multiple servers, you can modify the default routing group connectors to add source and destination servers. Making these configuration changes provides fault tolerance and load balancing.

If your Active Directory forest contains multiple sites, be sure to take some time to plan your conversion. Because two different administrators may manage Exchange Server and Active Directory in your organization, you may not be sure whether the topology created by the Active Directory administrator is suitable for Exchange Server. However, the reason for defining an Active Directory site is exactly the same as defining an Exchange routing group. Both engineering designs are designed to optimize communication over the basic network. You may be a little surprised but happy to find that the current routing group configuration actually reflects the Active Directory site configuration. Routing group connectors also follow a path similar to IP site links.

Using the commands in the Exchange Management Shell, you can find all information about the configuration of links to Active Directory sites and IP sites. For example, to view a list of all Active Directory sites in the forest, type:

Get-AdSite | format-list

To view a list of all IP site links and associated Active Directory sites configured in the forest, run the following cmdlet:

Get-AdSiteLink

There are some big differences and similarities in the way Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 perform message routing. Consider why you created routing groups and routing group connectors. Once these objects are created, you define how the Exchange 2003 server communicates. Exchange 2003 servers in the same routing group can communicate directly with each other. Exchange 2003 servers in different routing groups must communicate using routing group connectors, each of which defines a point-to-point connection between routing groups. When there is no point-to-point connection between routing groups, SMTP traffic must be relayed between routing groups to reach the destination.

In Exchange 2007, Active Directory site membership determines which Exchange 2007 servers can communicate directly with another server. The Exchange 2007 Hub Transport server uses intra-organization send connectors (implicit and invisible!) Relay messages to other Hub Transport servers, regardless of whether they are in a local Active Directory site or a remote Active Directory site.

Whenever a message leaves the scope of the routing group or Active Directory site from which it comes from, the message must choose a route to its destination. The algorithms used to determine routing paths in Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 are very similar. These server versions only consider different configuration objects.

Let's use travel as a metaphor.

The following analogy method illustrates the efficiency comparison between the Exchange 2007 routing system and the Exchange 2003 routing system.

Imagine that your entire Exchange organization is a country with a transportation system based on toll roads. Since there is a toll on every highway, you will certainly choose the route with a toll. In Exchange 2003, each routing group represents a city in that country, and the routing group connector is a road between cities. In Exchange 2003, mail routing is like driving to your destination and stopping in each city along the way. If you encounter obstacles on the way, such as an impassable bridge, road construction, or a long rest for road staff, you must stop and ask for directions and hope that there is a suitable road to go around. Moreover, servers that provide new directions must broadcast detour routes nationwide. All maps must be updated to reflect the new route, and the map needs to be updated again after the obstacles are removed. At the same time, taking a detour will make you a longer way to your destination.

Exchange 2007 does not work this way. In Exchange 2007, the Active Directory site represents the city and the link to the IP site represents the road, but you arrive at your destination by air rather than by car. Once you know your destination, you will fly over all the cities along the way. If you are unable to land in the destination city due to thick fog, snowstorm or bellboy strike, the plane will only change direction and land in the appropriate city closest to the destination. The plane then waits for the destination to improve and continues its journey when conditions permit. The route is parallel to the road, and each road still charges a toll, so you need to choose a route with a fee before you start your trip, which will help you decide which city to divert your plane to if you encounter problems.

If there is no direct flight between the two designated locations, you can specify that some or all of the flights must land in a transit city before continuing. When multiple people take a plane, just like sending an email to multiple recipients, each person has to go to a different destination, and everyone first takes the same route until they reach the fork in each route to their destination. Then, the plane makes a short stop, and passengers transfer to the plane according to their personal needs in order to reach their destination.

Even better, if you do not agree to charge tolls when driving on roads between cities (such as the fees assigned by Active Directory administrators to links to IP sites), you can change the fees charged to Exchange 2007 servers. Adjust the toll to change which flight route can be changed, and can decide whether a connecting flight is required during the flight.

In Exchange 2007, these "transportation" efficiencies benefit your organization by:

Sticking to a single, determined route (even if there is a failure) makes it easier to troubleshoot. You can easily identify the location of the problem in the routing path and start the investigation at that location. It's not that easy for mail to make a detour.

There are fewer servers to process mail. Exchange 2007 uses a basic IP network to eliminate temporary hops between the source and destination servers.

Eliminates the server-to-server communication overhead that exists in Exchange 2003 to update bypass routes.

Routing when Exchange versions coexist

Table 1 compares how different versions of Exchange Server handle routing.

Table 1 routing differences between Exchange Server versions

Routing based on Active Directory sites is a great stand-alone approach when there are only Exchange 2007 servers in your organization. However, as long as Exchange 2003 coexists with Exchange 2007, the Exchange 2003 server must still deliver messages to the Exchange 2003 mailbox. This means that you cannot cancel routing groups and routing group connectors until all mailboxes have been moved to Exchange 2007. If Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 are deployed in the same organization, you must maintain routing groups and routing group connectors during the translation phase. Still using our transportation simulation as an example, Exchange 2007 uses routing group connectors to deliver messages to the Exchange 2003 highway system, and Exchange 2003 uses reverse connectors to deliver messages to the Exchange 2007 aviation system. Therefore, depending on the place of origin and destination city, the travel process may include road driving and air flight.

Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 also "view" each other differently. Exchange 2003 does not know anything about the websites that make up the Exchange 2007 routing system and the systems that link to them. Exchange 2003 treats all Exchange 2007 servers as belonging to one large routing group. Compared to Exchange 2003, geographically adjacent Exchange 2007 servers have the same proximity as Exchange 2007 servers on the other side of the world.

On the other hand, Exchange 2007 knows about both routing systems and knows a lot about routing groups and routing group connectors used by Exchange 2003. You may have to create additional routing group connectors between Exchange 2007 routing groups and any Exchange 2003 routing groups to ensure that you do not indulge in "scenic routes" and instead take advantage of the most advantageous routes.

Table 2 compares message routing in various Exchange 2007 coexistence scenarios. Let's take a look.

Table 2 comparison of routing behavior between Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007

After reading the above, have you mastered how the Exchange version translates Active Directory-based routing? If you want to learn more skills or want to know more about it, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel, thank you for reading!

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