Communication between two routing groups is handled by Exchange connectors. You can connect routing groups using the three types of connectors described in the following table.
| Connector | Description |
|---|---|
| Routing Group connector | This provides the simplest method for connecting two Exchange routing groups. The Routing Group connector communicates over an SMTP connection; however, a Routing Group connector is much simpler to configure than an SMTP connector because you need to configure only one set of properties to connect two routing groups. |
| SMTP connector | This provides connectivity to Exchange 2000 Server routing groups within an administrative group and to foreign messaging systems. The SMTP connector conforms to the standards published in Request for Comments (RFC) 821. |
| X.400 connector | This can be configured to connect routing groups within an administrative group or to route messages to foreign X.400 systems. The X.400 connector conforms to the 1984 and 1988 International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) X.400 standards. |
Note If you use an SMTP or X.400 connector, you need to configure one connector in each of the routing groups you are connecting.
The Routing Group connector is the preferred connector for linking groups, because it is the simplest to configure. It has fewer settings and only requires that you connect the two routing groups. You can create single or multiple local (source) bridgehead servers, or you can designate that every server in the local routing group will act as a local bridgehead server.
SMTP connectors provide messaging connectivity between an
Exchange messaging system and a non-Exchange system (or the
Internet) using the SMTP protocol. SMTP connectors link one or more
bridgehead servers directly to a
You can use an X.400 connector to establish an X.400 messaging route between Exchange and another X.400 system. When you use an X.400 connector to connect two routing groups, one server in each routing group, the bridgehead server, is configured to provide the communication link. You can configure multiple X.400 connectors, each using different transport types such as TCP/IP or X.25. X.400 connectors can be advantageous if your connections are charged for each byte used (X.400 connectors use less bandwidth for large messages) or if your organization's policy dictates that only X.400 protocol messaging can go over a particular connection.
Exchange offers several ways to route mail outside your company. You can route mail to the Internet or to other SMTP mail systems using an SMTP connector, or you can route mail to an X.400 provider or to other X.400 systems using an X.400 connector. You can also connect to any of the following non-Exchange systems using the appropriate connector:
You can use an existing connector not provided by Exchange 2000 Server by including a server running an earlier version of Exchange in your organization. Using a server running Exchange 5.5 or earlier requires you to use a single routing group to replace the earlier Exchange site.