Simple DNS Question

[troverman]

Right now if I ping "mail.mycompany.com" the resultant IP address points to our old WAN. What records do I need to create / delete / edit to correct this and allow our remote users access to email again?

Thanks

[JorgeM]

You need to access the zone file and update the A (host) record as well as all of the MX records that are related to your mail servers.

If the records exist, just edit them. Don't leave any existing records that point to an IP that no longer services mail.

[troverman]

So I'm assuming the "A" records are controlled by our domain host; I contacted them and asked them to point our mail server to the new static IP. Email actually works because we use a perimeter email filter and I was able to log in and redirect that myself.

No DNS records need to be changed on our local Active Directory server, correct?

Thanks

[JorgeM]

For your internal DNS zone? I don't see why you would have any MX records to update. However, if you have split DNS as you design
, you would have external records defined internally as we'll so yes you would update those records accordingly.

This takes just a few seconds for a DNS admin to verify for both your internal and external DNS zones.

With regards to your email filter, it works because they likely have your email sever configured as a smart host. No MX record is used in this case. If you have email filtering service, your MX records would be pointing to their servers not yours.

[troverman]

Our MX records are pointing at the filter's servers; however, they are subsequently pointed back to our exchange server.

I'm waiting the "24 hours" from our domain provider for the DNS edit to take effect, hopefully it does...

[JorgeM]

Our MX records are pointing at the filter's servers;

yes, that is what i figured.

however, they are subsequently pointed back to our exchange server.

They are pointing to your exchange server via the smart host configuration.

[CimmerianX]

This is a very common setup. I run split DNS in multiple locations and have both internal and external MX along with the helper records for exchange/lync/etc...

If the records were updated, then you must wait for the TTL to expire before DNS servers begin updating. I think you mentioned 24 hours above somewhere... New records are resolved right away if your DNS is working properly.

IF you run MS products, be sure you also updated the helpers for autodiscover, etc....