Xtra / Telecom ongoing issues running Exchange Server

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cokemaster

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#117192 17-Mar-2008 18:00

Brown says all the major email providers in New Zealand manage the reputation of their mail systems on behalf of their customers who use their mailboxes. If you are managing your own mail server, you need to ensure you’re adhering to best practice to ensure you have a good reputation, he says.

An excellent thing to remember...

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mobiusnz

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#117236 17-Mar-2008 20:51

cokemaster: Good to hear that you are up and running.

I'm fairly sure that the issue could have been resolved earlier if the emotion and background noise was removed, but nevertheless its good to hear that its working. I'm not trying to shift the blame or point fingers but as the exchange administrator, you are responsible for the set up, not the ISP. Systems change, so do settings over time... I'm saying this after years of running my own mail system and others (1 exchange, the rest linux based).

There are managed solutions out there which allows for a most of the set up and management to be taken care of by people specialized in email. Perhaps you'd like to look at that?

I've been setting up Exchange Server since 1995!!! The problem is the lack of a reliable Relay server on Xtra - once upon a time it was easy to use DNS to deliver outbound mail but these days its becomming harder and harder having to setup Reverse DNS, SenderID/SPF etc - My own server running exchange simply routes outbound mail via smtp.paradise.net.nz end of story - I NEVER get any emails to my clients etc blocked - Occaisionally Telstra have issues with their mailservers and I simply switch temporarily to DNS resolution and live with the odd email being trapped as spam until Telstra get back and running right.

Yes - I'm responsible for the setup, but Xtra are responsible for either providing a CONSISTENT solution or at least documenting the rules of their system. Getting information from them is like squeezing blood from a stone - many of their technicians blurt gross inacuracies about their own system.

It took Xtra about 18 months longer than Clear years back to offer Static IP and ETRN mail queuing so you could use Exchange server AT ALL with them without buying a 3rd party pop connector. They make their own rules and try to make it sound like its all for the customer, and thats BS.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

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#117253 17-Mar-2008 22:24

*shrug* You can't win them all.

I've gone a different route with my mail servers (xtra, nonxtra and overseas based) and haven't had any issues. But as this thread has proven, everyones milage varies.

All I can strongly suggest is looking at recommended best practice for email and contacting Yahoo!Xtra/Telecom if you have issues with Junk mail. Setting up mail servers with reverse DNS, static IPs etc aren't too difficult and in the end paying off dividends.

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PenultimateHop

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#117257 17-Mar-2008 23:17

I can tell you pretty conclusively that Y!X's mail filtering is overzealous and it is incredibly hard to get them to take any action. There is a significant number of second tier ISPs and webhosting companies in New Zealand that have reported significant issues in getting mail into Y!X, with little to no response from either Y! or Xtra or about it. There have been issues on the ISP/webhosting company side of things (e.g. too many customers with insecure webmail forms resulting in a poor sender score for the ISP), but Y!X have a lot of blame to carry as well. Refer to the NZNOG archives for more info.

Xtra points the finger at Y!, Y! just doesn't respond because they really aren't that interested.

That said, best practice for anyone running an SMTP server at their premises is to relay outbound mail through their ISP's SMTP environment. I've talked about why in other posts here.

Simonm

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#117415 18-Mar-2008 22:01

I have had much fun with Xtra and email. They do weird stuff.

If your domain is with Xtra its their policy that their mail servers are set NOT be anything but the first MX priority.
IE you cant have your first MX pointing towards your mail server and then have the second as a failover to a xtra pop account.

If you manage to get it set up with Xtra as the second MX, anyone using Xtra mail will NOT be able to send email to your domain full stop, it just dissapears into a black hole and they have no clue as to why.

cokemaster

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#117417 18-Mar-2008 22:03

Simonm:
IE you cant have your first MX pointing towards your mail server and then have the second as a failover to a xtra pop account.

If you manage to get it set up with Xtra as the second MX, anyone using Xtra mail will NOT be able to send email to your domain full stop, it just dissapears into a black hole and they have no clue as to why.

Because you've created a local account? It routes it to that?

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#117429 18-Mar-2008 22:36

A really good site to look at for best practice is maawg.
Quite a few companies are involved with them (see the front page).

There are some quite good readings there, as well as this gem. Some really good pointers out there.

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