Calling all Exchange Server gurus

[tmblackflag]

As part of a class project I have to configure servers for three different theoretical companies. Each one must has an email server with its own unique domain name. All three boxes are hooked up to a switch, then a router, but have no network access beyond the router.

Instead, i gave each computer a static IP address and hard-coded each other computer's IP address and hostname into the "HOSTS" file.

The trouble is, the windows 2003 box can't send email to the 2000 box, yet the 2000 box can send email to the 2003 box. Also, the 2003 box can't reply to the 2000 box's messages.

When i try to send email from the 2003 box to the 2003 box, i don't get a return to sender so its gotta be going somewhere.

The HOSTS files for both boxes current look like this:
The file is in the windows/system32/drivers/etc folder


127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.12 Lincoln.com
192.168.1.10 serfin-lincoln.com


They have their own ip and name, as well as the other boxes ip and name.

I haven't even tried configuring the linux box yet.


So, does anyone have any ideas why the 2000 box can't receive any email, besides email it sends to itself?

Or is there any alternative method to setting up my network, given the business problem.

 

[shade91]

Why not use the DNS server instead of the hosts file? You *could* pull all that off with a single system.

 

[tmblackflag]

would the DNS server give me the power to use multiple domains from the same server?

The way my professor will test this is he will send an email from one domain to the other two, and then replay to all from the others.

 

[tmblackflag]

Also, i'm not sure how I'd integrate the Postfix Linux domain into that scenario.