CONFIGURING


Sending mail outside the local Internet domain

Because all mail on the Internet travels over SMTP routing, for your organization to send mail to Internet addresses you need to set up at least one Domino® server to send SMTP to external Internet domains and one to listen for incoming SMTP connections. Alternately, you can enable multiple, or even all, of your servers to route mail over SMTP to external Internet domains. Although you can use a single server to handle incoming and outgoing SMTP connections, if you anticipate a high volume of Internet mail, to avoid bottlenecks consider balancing the load among multiple servers.

The Domino SMTP servers you use for inbound and outbound Internet mail can connect to the Internet either directly or through an SMTP relay host or firewall. Routing between the Domino Internet mail server and internal mail servers can be over either SMTP or Notes® routing. It's not necessary to enable SMTP routing on your internal servers.

Using a single server to route mail to external Internet domains

In this configuration, a single designated mail server connects to the Internet. All other internal mail servers route messages addressed to recipients in external Internet domains to this server. If you use SMTP for internal mail routing, you can configure all of your internal servers to use the server that is connected to the Internet as a relay host. In the Configuration Settings documents that apply to any mail servers that do not connect directly to the Internet, enter the host name of the designated relay host in the Relay host for messages leaving the local Internet domain field. When the Router on these internal servers finds a message addressed to a recipient in an external Internet domain, it looks up the specified relay host in the DNS and forwards the message to it.

To set this up using Notes protocols, create a Foreign SMTP Domain document and an SMTP Connection document. When the Router on a server not connected directly to the Internet finds a message addressed to a recipient in an external Internet domain, the Router forwards the message to the domain in the Foreign SMTP Domain document, which is connected to the server with an Internet connection by the SMTP Connection document. When that server receives the message, its Router connects to the external Internet domain and routes the message.

Using multiple servers to route mail to external Internet domains

In this configuration, a few designated mail servers connect to the Internet. Other mail servers route messages addressed to recipients in external Internet domains to these servers. To set this up using SMTP, configure the servers that are connected to the Internet as relay hosts -- for example, create a DNS name, such as outbound.renovations.com, that maps to multiple MX records. Each MX record lists one of the connected servers. Enter the DNS name in the Relay host for messages leaving the local Internet domain field in the Configuration Settings document that applies to all servers that do not connect directly to the Internet. When the Router on those servers finds a message addressed to a recipient in an external Internet domain, it forwards the message to one of the servers that are listed in DNS and correspond to that name.

To set this up using Notes protocols, create Foreign SMTP Domain and SMTP Connection documents. When the Router on a server not connected directly to the Internet finds a message addressed to a recipient in an external Internet domain, the Router forwards the message to the domain in the Foreign SMTP Domain document, which is connected to one of the servers with an Internet connection by the SMTP Connection document. When that server receives the message, its Router connects to the external Internet domain and routes the message.

Enabling all mail servers to route mail to external Internet domains

In this configuration, every mail server connects to the Internet and runs the TCP/IP network protocol. Each server has the setting SMTP used when sending messages outside of the local Internet domain enabled in its Configuration Settings Document. When a user sends a message to a recipient in an external Internet domain, the Router looks up the domain in the Domain Name Service (DNS) and uses SMTP to connect to the receiving server in that domain. The Router transfers the message and closes the connection.

Routing SMTP mail over network dialup connections

Your organization may connect to the Internet and external Internet domains through a network dialup connection -- for example, to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). To set up such a connection in your Domino mail system for either Notes or SMTP routing, create a Network Dialup Connection document that specifies TCP/IP as the network protocol

After you create the Connection document, specify how Domino exchanges messages over that connection.

Notes and Domino support PPP using either Microsoft™ Dialup Networking (DUN) or Remote Access Service (RAS) for network dialup. In addition, you can use any IETF-compliant PPP communications server to dial into the network on which the Domino server resides or though which the server can be accessed.

Routing Internet mail through a relay host

A relay host is an SMTP server that receives mail from other servers and then transfers, or relays, it to the next SMTP server on the route to the recipient's domain. A relay host can be a Domino SMTP server, or a non-Domino SMTP host -- for example, you might relay mail to an SMTP server hosted by your ISP, or through a firewall server. If only a small number of servers on the network have direct connections to the Internet, set these servers up as relay hosts to which other internal servers forward messages for recipients in external Internet domains. You can set up a single relay host that handles messages addressed to any external Internet domain, or set up multiple relay hosts, and set up each one to route messages addressed to specific Internet domains.

Related concepts
Sending mail outside the local Internet domain
The Domain Name System (DNS) and SMTP mail routing

Related tasks
Configuring Domino to send mail to a relay host or firewall
Transferring outbound Internet mail to an SMTP server over Notes routing
Creating an SMTP Connection document
Setting up SMTP routing to external Internet domains
Creating a Network Dialup connection
Routing mail over transient connections