| Operations | << | >> |
|---|
The Internet News Service is a Windows NT service that provides both uni-directional and bi-directional newsfeeds so Outlook users can send messages to and receive messages from the Internet. The Internet News Service needs to be running only on the Microsoft Exchange Server computer that is configured for newsfeeds. The Internet News Service does not need to be running on the Microsoft Exchange Server computer in order for NNTP clients to access newsgroup public folders on that server.
The Internet News Service works with the information store to provide newsgroups. It connects to other hosts on a scheduled basis to send push feeds or perform pull feeds. (For information about types of newsfeeds, see "Newsfeeds" later in this chapter.) The public information store handles all incoming connections from clients and accepts push feeds from other host computers.
The Internet News Service can use either a dedicated or a dial-up connection to communicate with host computers on the Internet. When users post items to newsgroup public folders, the Internet News Service can send the items to an Internet newsfeed provider or another organization that has servers running NNTP. It can also receive newsfeeds from these host computers so Outlook users can read items posted by other users on the Internet.
Newsgroup public folders on Microsoft Exchange Server computers can be accessed by Outlook and any third-party newsreader applications that support NNTP, such as Microsoft Internet News or FreeAgent. Third-party newsreaders can read and post items to newsgroup public folders just as they would in Outlook.
You can configure multiple newsfeeds from multiple sources on one or more Microsoft Exchange Server computers. For example, your server can receive a newsfeed from one newsfeed provider for all newsgroups in the alt hierarchy and another newsfeed from another provider for all newsgroups in the rec hierarchy. However, newsfeeds should not overlap; the same newsgroup shouldn't be fed from two different newsfeed providers. If users in two different sites want to access some of the same newsgroups, the common newsgroup public folders should be replicated from one site to another instead of using different newsfeeds for both. Feeding the same newsgroup from multiple different providers causes redundant replication of each message in the newsgroup, which increases network traffic.