XCON: MTA Associations Fail On MSCS Installation

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you use Microsoft Exchange Server as a messaging bridgehead on a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) installation, the MTA may fail to read the virtual IP address correctly. This causes the incorrect IP address to be utilized for attempted connections, and MTA associations fail.

CAUSE

In this scenario, the clustered configuration consists of two nodes that share one or more common physical disk drives, an IP address, a network name, and the Microsoft Exchange Server cluster resource. All network requests to the clustered Microsoft Exchange Server computer are directed at the virtual server defined by the cluster, not at an individual node. It is the active node that receives and processes these requests on behalf of the cluster. The MTA fails to properly initialize a variable for the cluster API, which prevents correct usage of the virtual IP address assigned to the clustered resources.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. service pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

Additional query words: cluster connections socket

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:5.5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug