Connecting multiple offices with FTGate

This article will explain how to connect two (or more) offices together using FTGate products.  This example assumes that both sites have broadband access.

Joe Dobbit runs an Estate agency (dobbit.com) with offices in two towns. The central office is in London (ServerA) and a regional office is in Norfolk (ServerB). Joe wants to be able to have all his staff members email each other without having to set up sub-domains or remember where each staff member is located. He wants his email scanned for viruses and be able to archive all mail sent in and out of the offices.

The network

Joe has selected FTGate for both sites.

The central office has 50 staff members and the regional office has 5, Helen, Steve, Sam, Michael and Graeme.

Central Office configuration (ServerA):

After configuring ServerA with the basic settings needed to send and receive email the following changes were made.

  • A new mailbox called Serverb  was created with a password of ServerB_pwd
  • The users at the regional office were added as aliases for Serverb. i.e. Helan, Steve, Sam, Michael and Graeme
  • A new POP3 service was created on port 111 called pop_server_b.
  • The pop_server_b security policy was altered to the Default Global Security Policy
  • The pop_server_b access control was set to limit access to serverb@dobbit.com
  • Domain List/Dobbit.com/Undeliverable was set to Reject
  • A suitable virus scanner was installed and anti-virus options were enabled.
  • Firewall access was granted on port 111 with a restriction that only the IP address of ServerB can connect
  • Firewall access was granted on port 25 with a restiction that only the IP address of ServerB can connect
    (if you already allow port 25 (SMTP) access from the Internet then this step can be omitted).

Regional Office configuration (ServerB):

After configuring the regional server to connect to the internet using a suitable schedule, the following changes were made:

Sending Mail

  • Outbox/Connection/Network Profile set to LAN
  • Outbox/Connection/Delivery Mode set to Immediate
  • Outbox/Delivery/Host1 set to ServerA;serverb@dobbit.com;ServerB_pwd (where ServerA is the IP address of ServerA)
  • Outbox/Delivery/Delivery Route set to SMTP Hosts
  • Domain List/Dobbit.com/Undeliverable was set to Forward to Internet

Receiving mail

In Server/Clients/Clients a new SmartPop account was created in the name of ServerA

In the SmartPop options pages:

  • Connection/Network Profile was set to LAN
  • Connection/Host Name was set to the IP address of ServerA
  • Connection/Port was set to 111
  • Connection/Login was set to serverb@dobbit.com
  • Connection/Password was set to ServerB_pwd
  • Settings/When online check every was set to 5m
  • Delivery/Delivery Control was set to Automatic

Completion

With the above changes made the two offices were able to send email back and forth between them with the only delay being between the 5 minute collection period at the Regional Office.

Further offices could be added in the same way as the first Regional Office.

Now all the mail sent to and from the company are archived and scanned and Joe is very happy with his efficient mail system.