Datasheet

10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING EXCHANGE SERVER 2010
Is the Edge Transport Server Role Required?
A common misconception about Exchange 2010 is that the Edge Transport role is required for
Exchange 2010. This is not the case. Inbound email can be sent directly to the Hub Transport
role, or you can continue to use your existing third-party antispam/message hygiene system
to act as an inbound message relay for Exchange Server.
Microsoft’s solution to this dilemma is the Edge Transport server. The Edge Transport server
is a stand-alone message transport server that is managed using the EMS and the same basic
management console that is used to manage Exchange 2010. A server functioning in an Edge
Transport role should not be a member of the organization’s internal Active Directory.
Functions such as transport rules are identical to those that run on an Exchange 2010 Hub
Transport server. Content filtering (formerly referred to as the Intelligent Message Filter, or
IMF) and Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange are implemented on the Edge Transport
server.
An example of how an organization might deploy an Edge Transport server is shown in
Figure 1.3. Inbound email is first delivered to the Edge Transport servers that are located
in the organization’s perimeter network, where the message is inspected by the content filter,
Forefront Security for Exchange, and any message transport rules. The inbound message is
then sent on to the internal Hub Transport servers. Additionally, the Exchange 2007 Hub
Transport servers are configured to deliver mail leaving the organization to the Edge Transport
servers rather than configuring the Hub Transport servers to deliver mail directly to the
Internet.
Figure 1.3
Deploying an Edge
Transport server
Internet or
external mail
sender /
recipient
Edge Transport
server for message
hygiene
Hub Transport
server
All email traffic is
routed to a Hub
Transport server
role
Mailbox
server
Internal networkPerimeter network
The Edge Transport server is a fully functional SMTP message hygiene system with many
of the same features that are found in expensive message hygiene software packages and appli-
ances. The following features are included:
◆ Per-user safe-sender, safe recipient, and blocked sender lists are automatically replicated
from the user’s mailbox to the Edge Transport server. For organizations using Exchange
2007, this represents a nice set of improvements.
◆ Recipient filtering is enabled when valid recipients are synchronized to the Edge Transport
server’s local Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) database.
◆ Sender and recipient filtering can be configured via administrator-controlled lists.