DNS name for OWA when using Edge Transport server
I just need a little clarification on what is the best way to handle DNS naming or URL forwarding for my OWA server for users on the internet. I am installing Exchange 2010. I have my CAS server on the LAN and the Edge Transport server on the DMZ. My MX record for mail.company.com will point to the Edge server for all SMTP traffic. I was hoping to use https://mail.company.com/owa as the address for internet users, but the MX record for mail.united-cs.com already points to a host A record that points to the IP address of the Edge server. If I must keep mail.company.com as my MX server, is there a way to point the OWA requests to the CAS server from the Edge server? I realize I could just create another DNS host name (i.e. owa.company.com) and point it to the CAS server and the problem would be resolved. I just wanted to simplify it by using mail.company.com. Thanks for any input on this question.
June 23rd, 2011 7:25pm

Hi, MX records points for domain name not for the sub domain name i.e united-cs.com. I belive your domain name is united-cs.com. In this case you can use "mail.united-cs.com\owa" for OWA A record point to CAS server. you can remove A record from edge and point it to CAS (thru firewall)Anil MCC 2011,ITIL V3,MCSA 2003,MCTS 2010, My Blog : http://messagingschool.wordpress.com
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June 23rd, 2011 8:24pm

Maybe I am misunderstanding how DNS operates. I thought that that my ISP created a host A record (mail.mydomain.com) for my SMTP (Edge Transport) server at 1.1.1.1 and then created the MX record for that host. This is the server IP where SMTP traffic is routed to. If I change the host A record IP address for mail.mydomain.com to point to a different IP address for a different server (the CAS at 1.1.1.2) then how is the SMTP traffic going to be routed to the Edge Transport server at 1.1.1.1?
June 23rd, 2011 9:34pm

If you are going to use an Edge server, then I would have two DNS records. One for SMTP traffic and one for everything else. While you could use a single host name for both, that would require your firewall to do port level forwarding, rather than host level. That may not be possible if you are putting Edge in a DMZ for example. Usually I prefer to do a 1:1 NAT and then just open the ports as well. So you could use mail.example.com for OWA, ActiveSync, Outlook Anywhere etc, and smtp.example.com for inbound SMTP traffic. It doesn't matter - you are not limited on the number of hosts you can have in DNS, as long as they resolve to the right place, the Internet doesn't care. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP Blog | Exchange Resources | In the UK? Hire Me.
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June 23rd, 2011 11:35pm

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