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Microsoft Exchange Mail-On-Demand
Microsoft Exchange Server
is an e-mail server that can be used to handle local (Intranet) e-mail.
It can also be configured to send and receive outgoing (Internet) mail on
demand (dial on demand).
Not only can Exchange Server be used as a local mail server to handle your
intranet mail, but it can also be configured to send and receive mail to and from the
Internet. Typically, a dedicated Internet connection, including the purchase of a high
speed line (T1), a router, a CSU-DSU, a firewall, DNS Servers, etc, would be
required in order for your Local Area Network (LAN) to send and receive Internet
mail. The capital required to make such a commitment, in most cases, is far too high
and prohibits small to medium sized businesses from integrating the Internet into their
LAN or Intranet.
However, with the Exchange Server, you can have the server dial-up to your
local ISP on demand, then connect to the mail service on your Virtual Server
and download any stored mail. This allows you the ability to have continuous e-mail
support on your local intranet where traffic is heavier, in addition to being able to
send and receive e-mail to and from the Internet on a more periodic basis. You
should be aware that we do not currently have a solution for Exchange Server for
Virtual Subhosts. We may
have this solution in the future (technically the Virtual Server will handle this just fine), but
until then, if you desire to use this solution for Virtual Subhosts you will be responsible
for the sendmail configuration changes.
Because your Virtual Server is always connected to the Internet, it is always
available for incoming mail messages and can store (or queue) these messages for you
until you are ready to retrieve them. The ability of the Exchange Server to
perform dial-on-demand e-mail retrieval allows you to take advantage of the lower
prices of a dial-up connection, providing a more affordable Internet mail solution for
your company. The information provided here should be easily adaptable for any
other Mail Server, such as Novell's Workgroup Server.
The following diagram illustrates the theory behind the process.
You and your fellow employees are located on your LAN or Intranet at your Office.
You use a dial-up connection through your ISP to surf the web, read news, download
files, and remotely administrate your Virtual Server. You may have previously had
both an internal LAN mailbox and a POP or IMAP mailbox on your Virtual Server.
Using the Exchange Server (or equivalent software) you can now queue
your Internet mail on your Virtual Server and instruct Exchange Server to
periodically connect to the Internet, download the mail from your Virtual Server, and
then distribute it to your local area network mailboxes.
Configuration
You need to configure both your Exchange Server and your Virtual Server in order
to implement Mail-On-Demand.
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