Directory Synchronization

Microsoft Exchange Server uses directory synchronization to share address information with foreign systems. Directory synchronization is the process of exchanging address information between your organization and any system that uses the MS Mail directory synchronization protocol. You can configure directory synchronization to:

• Synchronize Microsoft Exchange Server and MS Mail (PC) address information.
• Replace directory server postoffices in an existing MS Mail (PC) system.
• Exchange MS Mail template information. The templates record information about recipients, such as locations and phone numbers. You can map MS Mail templates and Microsoft Exchange Server recipient attributes to each other.

When planning directory synchronization between Microsoft Exchange Server and a mail system that uses the MS Mail (PC) directory synchronization protocol, consider the following:

• Because the directory synchronization process uses e-mail messages to update address information, Microsoft Exchange Server and MS Mail (PC) must be directly connected through the MS Mail Connector or a third-party gateway, or backboned through another connector. You must also make sure that routing is configured with redundant connections so that messages can still be routed if one connection fails.
• The Dispatch program transfers address list updates between MS Mail (PC) postoffices. If Dispatch is not running, MS Mail (PC) postoffices cannot compose update messages in the appropriate format.
• You can configure only one directory synchronization (dirsync) server for each site. Only one dirsync server can be configured for each MS Mail directory requestor postoffice.
• Schedule directory synchronization to minimize traffic on the network. To do so, schedule directory synchronization when traffic is at a minimum. Also make sure that there is enough available bandwidth to support directory synchronization traffic.
• When setting trust levels for directory synchronization, determine what directory information you want to exchange. Configure trust levels so that only this information is exchanged between the two systems.
• Microsoft Exchange Server enables two users to have the same display name provided that their directory name is different. MS Mail does not support this for users who are on the same postoffice.
• If you have multiple MS Mail directory server postoffices, you can replace them with a single Microsoft Exchange Server computer configured as the dirsync server for the MS Mail directory requestor postoffices that belonged to the MS Mail directory server postoffices. You can also replace existing MS Mail directory server postoffices with multiple Microsoft Exchange Server computers in different sites, if the sites are configured to replicate directory information.