XCLN: Exchange Client Polls Flag.glb File on MS Mail Postoffice

• Microsoft Outlook Windows 3.x client, versions 8.00, 8.01, 8.02, 8.03
• Microsoft Outlook Windows 95 client, versions 8.00, 8.01, 8.02, 8.03
• Microsoft Outlook Windows NT client, versions 8.00, 8.01, 8.02, 8.03
• Microsoft Exchange Windows 3.x client, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Exchange Windows 95 client, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Exchange Windows NT client, versions 4.0, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you configure the Microsoft Exchange or Outlook client to connect to a Microsoft Mail postoffice and set the client to check for new mail at a specific interval greater than 10 minutes, you notice the Microsoft Mail postoffice is polled and the Flag.glb file checked approximately every two minutes.

If you apply a network trace between the client and the server hosting the Microsoft Mail postoffice, you see that every two minutes the client checks the Flag.glb file and thus makes a network connection.

WORKAROUND

For networks configured to do remote Domain Name Service via on-demand ISDN dial-up, changing the network topology is typically the only workaround.

STATUS

This is by design.

The behavior of the client can prove to be unexpectedly very expensive for networks that are configured with dial-up on-demand ISDN connections, especially when outbound connections are expected to occur at greater time intervals.