Windows 2000 DC and Exchange 2000

I am not very familiar with Windows 2000 so I would certainly appreciate any feedback.

I have some questions. My network has a Active Directory Windows 2000 DC, which I'll call Main1 and another Windows 2000 DC called Email1. Main1 has an internal private IP address and it doesn't have any Internet access. On the other hand, Email1 is the Exchange 2000 mail server with an external public IP address, so that means that Email is located on the Internet.

Currently, I create user accounts on Main1. If a user needs to have email, after creating the user account on Main1, I'll have to go to Email1 to create another mail account for him. Is there
a way that I can do it all in one step on Main1, so that when I create a user account on Main1, an email account is also created on Email1?

Another thing is that, do you think that Email1 should be in the internal LAN rather than on the Internet? I am not sure whether this will work, so I would appreciate any suggestions on this too.

One last thing, I suppose the Exchange 2000 server is also an SMTP server. How do I know what is the FQDN for this server? Normally, I see SMTP servers having FQDNs like smtp.oracle.com or smtp.netcom.com.

I thank you for any feedback.


Kingsley

 

Whew - I think maybe the reason you went most of the day without a reply is nobody knew where to start. I will take a stab at it though.

Let me take the easy parts first.

You should be able to get the FQDN for Email1 by looking at TCP/IP settings on the NIC assuming it has a static IP address. Check the DNS section.

I would also expect a ping from any machine that can connect to/use Email1 to return the FQDN for it when you ping it by IP and use a -a switch.

Naming the SMTP server something like smtp.mynetwork.com is a convenience although they certainly do require a unique FQDN of some sort.

The setup you describe, as described, seems to be missing some pieces maybe.
. Is Main1 your PDC or just a DC?
. Are Main1 & Email1 in the same domain?
. Do clients talk to Email1 via a router gateway or as if it were an ISP out on the net?
. Can Main1 & Email1 see each other at all?

It certainly will work to have your exhange server on your internal network as long as there is some means for it to reach the internet. Routers are the traditional way.

If the exchange server is on the LAN, you can set it so that creating an email account will also create a matching domain user account.

One last general comment. My sense from your questions is that you will do much better buying some time and expertise from a consultant unless there is someone on staff who can sit down and give you a good overview of the system and specifics on which modifications you might want to make and why. Doing serious modifications of your network schema should be planned and overseen (or done) by an expert. Not to say it shouldn't be done but just that is should be done properly.

 

Exchange 2000

Either the Exchange server is a DC in a different domain or the exchange admin tools have never been installed on Main1. If there's an Exchange server ina active directory domain, creating an acct. WILL create an Exchange address. The only way it doesn't happen is if the administrative tools were installed on the machine either before or after, I can't remember which way goes, the exchange server joined the domain.
Having said that I have to agree, from the general tone of the original question, hiring a consultant to help map things out would be money well spent.