Hello, can someone please help me distinguish between Public Folder Replicas and Public Folder Referral as I am confused between them ? If for example I have 3 mailbox Servers with a Public Folder Database each. From the Public Folder Management Console I set a Public Folder to replicate to all 3 Public Folder Databases. So what is Public Folder referral and do I have to set something in this case ? Thanks

On Sat, 5 Feb 2011 15:55:34 +0000, acmsoft wrote: >can someone please help me distinguish between Public Folder Replicas and Public Folder Referral as I am confused between them ? You are. If a given public foder database does not have a replica of the folder, your client will look for a dtabase within the AD site that does. If none of them has a replica the client will be referred to a database in another AD site that does. >If for example I have 3 mailbox Servers with a Public Folder Database each. From the Public Folder Management Console I set a Public Folder to replicate to all 3 Public Folder Databases. So what is Public Folder referral and do I have to set something in this case ? In that case that would be no need for referrals since each database has a complete set of folders. Unless there's some problem with the AD site connector costs there's hardly ever a reason to modify the referral list. And if all your public folder databases are within the same AD site there will never be a referral. --- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP --- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP

ok so the default Public Folder database for a mailbox is relevant only for the client when creating a new Public Folder to determine the location. If another client from another mailbox (from a different mailbox database) which has a different Public Folder Database creates a Public Folder it is also visible to the first user however the Referral will work in this case to find out which Public Folder Database stores the particular folder. Hope I am nearly correct :)

On Sat, 5 Feb 2011 19:55:43 +0000, acmsoft wrote: >ok so the default Public Folder database for a mailbox is relevant only for the client when creating a new Public Folder to determine the location. Saind another way, the default public folder store is the source of the public folder hierarchy for the mailboxes in that mailbox database. From that set of information the location of public folder replicas can be known. I don't know if it stil works the same way, but it used to be that a new public folder was always created in the client's default public folder database and then replicated to the databases in which its parent had replicas. If that didn't include the client's default public folder database then the replica was removed from that public folder database. >If another client from another mailbox (from a different mailbox database) which has a different Public Folder Database creates a Public Folder it is also visible to the first user however the Referral will work in this case to find out which Public Folder Database stores the particular folder. There's no referral if both public folder databases are in the same AD site. The client software will find the replica list in the public folder hierarchy and either connect directly (if it's in the same AD site) or, if there's no replica in the AD site, will receive a referral to another public folder database in the "nearest" (based on AD site costs) AD site that has a replica. --- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP --- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP

Quote: “If another client from another mailbox (from a different mailbox database) which has a different Public Folder Database creates a Public Folder it is also visible to the first user however the Referral will work in this case to find out which Public Folder Database stores the particular folder” Yes, you can understand it in this way “When a user accesses a public folder by using a MAPI client application, such as Microsoft Outlook, the public folder database determines which public folder replica the client should access. This process is called referral” -------Refer to <Understanding Public Folder Referrals> “If a replica of the public folder being accessed doesn't exist in the default public folder database, the Mailbox store where the default public folder database resides will provide a prioritized referral list of Mailbox servers that hold a replica to the client. Public folder databases in the same Active Directory site as the default public folder database are listed first, and additional referral locations are prioritized based on Active Directory site proximity” -------Refer to <Planning to Use Active Directory Sites for Routing Mail>Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.