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Figure 1: MSExchangeIS
The following two types of databases are available in Exchange Server 2003:
• Private store databases These databases store mailboxes and message queues for MAPI-
based messaging connectors.
• Public store databases These databases store public folder hierarchies and public folder
contents.
Through Virtual Servers, multiple configurations of the same protocol can exist on a single Exchange
Server.
Advanced Queuing Engine (AQE)
The Advanced Queuing Engine (AQE) is responsible for creating and managing message queues for e-
mail delivery. When AQE receives a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) mailmsg object, this object
will be forwarded to the Message Categorizer. The Advanced Queuing Engine then queues the Mailmsg
object for message delivery based on the Routing information provided by the Routing Engine process of
Exchange Server 2003.
The Message Categorizer is part of the Advanced Queuing Engine and is responsible for address
resolution on every Mailmsg object that flows through the AQE. The Message Categorizer is
implemented as an Event Sink. The Message Categorizer is also responsible for splitting messages into
RTF or MAPI.
Routing Engine
The Exchange Routing Engine uses Link State information for e-mail routing. The Routing Engine will
forward this information to the Advanced Queuing Engine.
Please note:
The SMTP Stack from Windows Server 2003 will be extended through the Exchange Server installation
Relaying
SMTP Relaying occurs when one SMTP host forwards e-mail to another SMTP host. Open SMTP
relaying occurs when the SMTP host accepts messages from recipients outside the organization and
forwards the messages to other recipients that are also outside the organization.
Figure 4: Relaying
If the Exchange Server allows everyone without authentication to deliver messages, the server is called an
Open Relay. Open Relays can be used to send UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail). By default
Exchange Server 200x is not an open relay.
The following steps describe the process:
• The unauthorized user sends an e-mail message to the SMTP Server and addresses multiple
recipients in the message. The recipients in the e-mail are in domains external to the Exchange
Server's Messaging Organization.
• The Exchange Server accepts the Message.
Message Tracking
One of the fundamental settings that every Exchange Server should have enabled is the Message Tracking
option. The Message Tracking option enables the logging of every e-mail message and, if enabled, for the
message subject. You should enable message subject tracking only on low utilized Servers.
After the Message Tracking feature has been enabled, the Message Tracking Feature can be used in the
Exchange System Manager to find messages sent to recipients.
If an e-mail message is selected, the message can be clicked in order to see the message delivery status
details.
As can be seen in the picture above, the message was Submitted from Store, delivered to the AQE,
submitted to the Categorizer, Queued for Routing and Queued for Remote Delivery.
SMTP Logging
With Exchange Server 2003 it is possible to use extended SMTP Logging for troubleshooting purposes. If
SMTP Logging is enabled, Exchange will write every outgoing mail through SMTP in a special logfile
located by default in \Windows\System32\Logfiles\SMTPSVC1 where SVC1 is the first Virtual SMTP
Server. You must enable this feature in the Exchange System Manager under the protocol container from
the Exchange Server object. Enable all options in W3c Extended Log File Format.
After enabling this feature, the generated logfile can be opened and the detailed steps are shown in the
SMTP connection process.
For better viewing and analyzing, it is possible to export the logfile into Microsoft Excel. With Microsoft
Excel the logfile can be formatted so that it is easier to analyze its content.
Diagnostic Logging
One other troubleshooting helper is the Diagnostic Logging of Exchange Server 2003. Diagnostic
Logging sets the details that are logged in the Event Viewer for specific Exchange components to a higher
level, so more information will be logged in the Event Viewer Application Log .
Diagnostic Logging should only be enabled when troubleshooting specific problems because Diagnostic
Logging quickly fills the Event Log. The Logging Level can be set from None to Maximum in the GUI
but there is also a Registry Key for setting the Logging Level to Level 7 for SMTP Logging purposes.
Diagnostic Logging must be enabled in the Exchange System Manager under the Exchange Server object.
After enabling the Diagnostic Logging feature the Event Viewer can be analyzed for specific problems.
Connecting to SMTP
Open Telnet (Start – Run – CMD – Telnet) and write the following line:
TELNET Servername.Domain.TLD 25 (in our example TELNET London.nwtraders.msft 25).
SMTPDIAG
SMTPDIAG is a simple Tool for testing the SMTP Message flow from Exchange Servers to outside
SMTP or Exchange Servers.
SMTPDIAG can be downloaded from the Microsoft Exchange 2003 Tools Website.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=BC1881C7-925D-4A29-BD42-
71E8563C80A9&displaylang=en After downloading and extracting the SMTPDIAG Tool, open a
command prompt and start SMTPDIAG.
SMTPDIAG administrator@mwtraders.msft grotem@it-training-grote.de starts the SMTPDIAG process.
SMTPDIAG now checks DNS settings and initiates an SMTP connection to the destination system
without sending mail.
SMTPDIAG has only two options.
• /V = enables Verbose Mode and shows some more details which are hidden in Standard Mode.
• [-d target DNS] = This parameter is optional. The IP address of the target DNS server can be
specified in order to look up remote MX records. This is often configured as an external DNS
server in Exchange. An external DNS can be configured at the Exchange virtual server level but
not for the Internet Information Services SMTP service.