Re: Newbie to Exchange needs MX record info

Here's your current:
Non-authoritative answer:
tektoneco.net MX preference = 0, mail exchanger = mail1.tektoneco.net
tektoneco.net MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail.tektoneco.net

tektoneco.net nameserver = park10.secureserver.net
tektoneco.net nameserver = park9.secureserver.net
park9.secureserver.net internet address = 64.202.165.114
park10.secureserver.net internet address = 64.202.167.153


Here's Microsoft's:

Non-authoritative answer:
microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mailb.microsoft.com
microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mailc.microsoft.com
microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = maila.microsoft.com

microsoft.com nameserver = ns3.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = ns4.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = ns5.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = ns1.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = ns2.msft.net
maila.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.124
mailb.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.123
mailc.microsoft.com internet address = 207.46.121.52
ns1.msft.net internet address = 207.46.245.230
ns2.msft.net internet address = 64.4.25.30
ns3.msft.net internet address = 213.199.144.151
ns4.msft.net internet address = 207.46.66.75
ns5.msft.net internet address = 207.46.138.20



Note how maila.microsoft.com has a corresponding record? That's an A record
for the responsible host. So, you would define xxx.domain.com which equates
to FQDN of a host. XXX == hostname while domain.com == tektoneco.net.
(note: I simplified these records to make the illustration clearer)
microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = maila.microsoft.com
maila.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.124

Translated means that for the zone microsoft.com, the mailhandler with a
preference of 10 is maila.microsoft.com or host maila in the microsoft.com
domain is responsible for handling mail destined for the microsoft domain.
In your case, I see A records for park9 and park10 in the secureserver.net
domain. You would want one of those hosts to handle mail for you I assume.
If not, then you'll need to publish a host record in the tektoneco.net
domain. That host might be named mail or it might be something else, but if
it listens on tcp 25 and handles mail destined for tektoneco.net domain,
then it should have a corresponding MX record.

CNAME records are discouraged by RFC so it's best not to use them if
possible.

Does that make more sense?

If not, drop a note to my email address and let me know. I don't always
catch NNTP messages.

Al



"Gary Demi" <GaryDemi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:091412CA-F029-4375-B8E3-7DCD87C64CF5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I still don't get it, I took the cname records out for mail and set my mx
> records to
> pri=0 mail1.tektoneco.net
> pri=10 mail.tektoneco.net
> yet dnsreport doesn't like this at all, says thoses addressess resolve to
> 0.0.0.0, which I gues they should since we have no cname record for
> mail.tektoneco.net. I am still confused on what the Exchange mail server
> URL
> is. I would guess it must be xxxx.mydomain.com, so what is xxx using the
> default SBS2003 setup.
> Or otherwise where is the mailserver name determined by exchange.
>
> Take a look at our domain tektoneco.net , right now it is very difficult
> for
> me to make changes to the NS records as the owner want's me to go through
> him
> on any changes to the domain. I have full control over the server.
>
> I need to sit down and go through some basic Exchange documentation and/or
> tutorials, but right now, it's almost all working, just this silly MX
> record
> problem.
> --
> Gary Demi
> Software & Communication Concepts, Inc.
> Microsoft Registered Partner
> Houston, & Phoenix
>
>
>
> "Al Mulnick" wrote:
>
>> CNAME records are discouraged from being used for mail handling.
>> A records and MX records are the preferred method.
>>
>> Create an MX record for your domain, and whatever the A record is, it is.
>>
>> As for the ISP's, each one will vary. There is no value in checking to
>> see
>> if the sending host has an MX record as far as I'm concerned. SPF values
>> are worse then worthless IMHO as they allow a spammer to publish and then
>> in
>> practice, many hosts would allow bypassing of normal checks.
>>
>> Some ISP's do reverse lookup on the host to see if it belongs to the
>> domain
>> that's sending. That's accomplished with a PTR record. You *should*
>> configure a PTR record for your sending host.
>>
>> Can you post some of the NDR's you get for delivery if that doesn't clear
>> some of your issues up and the recipient domain ISP name?
>>
>> Al
>>
>> "Gary Demi" <GaryDemi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:451DB892-823C-49EF-8569-A0C9CE761FA1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > Thanks for the info.
>> > I already have an 'A' record, it consists of @ and my IP address this
>> > works
>> > fine for http, https and ftp access (with associated CNAME records)
>> >
>> > For Exchange Mail 2003 As I understand It,
>> > I create a 'Cname' record such as alias=mail , points to @ , ttl=3600
>> > then the MX record
>> > PRI=0, HOST=@
>> >
>> > This will allow other mail handlers to deliver mail to Exchange using
>> > anybody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (actual domain removed).)
>> >
>> > Wil this also fix the problem of bounced outgoing mail, as apparently
>> > many
>> > ISP's we send mail to apparently check to see if I am sending mail from
>> > a
>> > legit domain?
>> >
>> >
>> > Gary Demi
>> > Software & Communication Concepts, Inc.
>> > Microsoft Registered Partner
>> > Houston, & Phoenix
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Al Mulnick" wrote:
>> >
>> >> The help file that comes with Exchange would be appropriate. Search
>> >> SMTP
>> >> and
>> >> or Internet.
>> >>
>> >> MX records are not "required" per se to deliver mail per RFC. However,
>> >> it
>> >> is
>> >> a best practice to have one that designates the mail handler for your
>> >> domain. This is accomplished by designating a host as a mail handler
>> >> (MX
>> >> is
>> >> the designation for mail handler in DNS terms.)
>> >>
>> >> It is a best practice to designate a MX record that specifies a host
>> >> by
>> >> it's
>> >> A record vs. any other type of record. During a SMTP transaction, the
>> >> MTA
>> >> (mail transfer agent) will receive a message. It will determine where
>> >> to
>> >> deliver that message and if it determines that message to be a remote
>> >> MTA,
>> >> it will then look at it's routing table to figure out if it knows how
>> >> to
>> >> contact that responsible MTA. If it doesn't have a specific route, it
>> >> will
>> >> then look to DNS and specifically will look for a MX record that
>> >> specifies
>> >> the mail handler for that domain (domain here is everything to the
>> >> right
>> >> of
>> >> "@" in the address.) If an MX record does not exist, the MTA will look
>> >> for
>> >> an A record. If that doesn't exist, it will fail the delivery and
>> >> return
>> >> a
>> >> non-delivery receipt (NDR). If an MX record does exist, it should
>> >> reference
>> >> an A record. Once that A record is discovered, it will be queried for
>> >> it's
>> >> IP address and a conversation will be started between the MTA's via
>> >> the
>> >> well
>> >> known SMTP port, TCP 25. Messages will then be transferred and the
>> >> recipient
>> >> MTA will become responsible for the next step of delivery.
>> >>
>> >> Basically, that's how it works. Daniel Petri seems to have taken the
>> >> time
>> >> to explain it as well.
>> >> http://www.petri.co.il/configure_mx_records_for_incoming_smtp_email_traffic.htm
>> >>
>> >> Having more than one MX record is done because the way SMTP mail
>> >> works,
>> >> it
>> >> will try the lowest weighted (preferred) mail handler first. If it
>> >> receives
>> >> an error (depends on the error type), the sending MTA should then try
>> >> to
>> >> send to the next mailer listed. This provides some level of failure
>> >> tolerance because you can have multiple hosts that receive mail for
>> >> your
>> >> domain. Should one be out of service, the other should pick up the
>> >> slack.
>> >> It's not a requirement.
>> >>
>> >> Typically, your ISP will offer queuing services. If your host should
>> >> be
>> >> down, they'll accept mail for your domain until you come back on-line
>> >> at
>> >> which time they'll dump the queued messages to your mailer. So in
>> >> practice,
>> >> you'll often see records that look like:
>> >>
>> >> yourdomain.net MX preference = 10, mail exchanger =
>> >> smtp.yourdomain.net
>> >> yourdomain.net MX preference = 50, mail exchanger = SMTP.yourISP.net
>> >>
>> >> Which would typically send mail destined for your domain to
>> >> smtp.yourdomain.net. However, if that server were unavailable, a
>> >> sending
>> >> host would try to send the mail to the other server, SMTP.yourISP.net.
>> >> When
>> >> smtp.yourdomain.net came back into service, it would then receive the
>> >> queued
>> >> messages from the ISP MTA, SMTP.yourISP.net.
>> >>
>> >> One caveat to be aware of, is that some admins have configured their
>> >> hosts
>> >> to look for reverse DNS records as a way to reduce spam. I don't
>> >> consider
>> >> this effective, but that's my opinion. The reason I don't, is because
>> >> I
>> >> can
>> >> have a sending host that is not also a receiving a host and therefore
>> >> I
>> >> wouldn't have a corresponding MX record. To have the sending and
>> >> receiving
>> >> host be the same, is more often done in smaller IT shops vs. the
>> >> larger
>> >> and
>> >> global shops. By RFC, I am not required to have an MX record for a
>> >> host
>> >> that
>> >> is sending only nor would I want to as there would be no path for that
>> >> mail
>> >> handler to ever deliver a message. A PTR record is a good idea for
>> >> your
>> >> sending host for the same reason. While not required, it is a good
>> >> idea
>> >> to
>> >> more reliably transfer messages with your customers because some hosts
>> >> are
>> >> configured to check for a reverse lookup when receiving a message from
>> >> your
>> >> domain. Same goes with SPF records (you may want one); I don't spf
>> >> records
>> >> as effective nor desirable, but what do I know? ;)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Does that help?
>> >>
>> >> Al
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "Gary Demi" <GaryDemi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> news:1067F097-FA48-4B5F-97D3-5F0957549B12@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> >I thought two MX records where required. The MX records should read
>> >> >something
>> >> > liklike mail.yourdomain.com or smtp.yourdomain.com (what prefix does
>> >> > Exchange
>> >> > use, and what help file are you referring to?
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks
>> >> > --
>> >> > Gary Demi
>> >> > Software & Communication Concepts, Inc.
>> >> > Microsoft Registered Partner
>> >> > Houston, & Phoenix
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > "Al Mulnick" wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Two MX resource records?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> MX resource records are used to designate mail handlers for your
>> >> >> domain.
>> >> >> The A RR is the host name, and the MX references the A.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> If you have the A already, you would have your lowest priority MX
>> >> >> record
>> >> >> specify the A record as the mail handler. You may also want a
>> >> >> reverse
>> >> >> PTR
>> >> >> (some domains check this record when receiving mail from you), but
>> >> >> that's
>> >> >> up
>> >> >> to you. The higher priority record, if you specify one, would
>> >> >> typically
>> >> >> be
>> >> >> for a backup mail handler such as might be provided by your ISP.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Check out the help files for more information regarding MX and A
>> >> >> records
>> >> >> and
>> >> >> how to set this up. I believe it has mail flow pictures in there
>> >> >> if
>> >> >> that's
>> >> >> helpful.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Al
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> "Gary Demi" <GaryDemi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> >> news:9DEFC442-1929-4252-A261-BE4FFCA4A901@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> >> > We are running SBS2003 premium and starting to use exchange.
>> >> >> > Right
>> >> >> > now
>> >> >> > we
>> >> >> > are
>> >> >> > running one NIC behind a NAT router.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > We have access to the DNS records on out nameserver through ouw
>> >> >> > domain
>> >> >> > registrar.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > We have a public domain name pointing to the SBS2003 computer
>> >> >> > (via
>> >> >> > the
>> >> >> > A
>> >> >> > record). To what URL do we point the two MX records (pri=0 &
>> >> >> > pri-10)
>> >> >> > so
>> >> >> > that
>> >> >> > Exchange Server is recognized as a mail server.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > A link to the the appropriate setup docs would be nice.
>> >> >> > --
>> >> >> > Gary Demi
>> >> >> > Software & Communication Concepts, Inc.
>> >> >> > Microsoft Registered Partner
>> >> >> > Houston, & Phoenix
>> >> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>


.

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