I am looking for a way to duplicate incoming SMTP traffic to two servers. I want to get the same e-mails at the same time on two different mail servers. I am in the process of upgrading from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 and would like to run both servers concurrently while I have a chance to test multiple mail domains, our third-party mail filter, etc. This would allow me to address any issues without the possibility of downtime. Have you ever used or heard of a product that can do this?

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The only Exchange facility for doing something like this would be to use a Forwarding Address where you can send all messages to an address on a different domain simulating your environment. There is an option on Forwarding where you can deliver messages to both forwarding address and mailbox, thereby keeping the primary system working as you want.

Often it is enough to set up your lab to be similar, though not actually duplicate the actual messages from the live messaging network. If what you are after is estimating whether your new system can handle the load, there are tools to let you simulate traffic. In addition to messages received, such tools can simulate a level of responses to many mailboxes that you would not be able to fully mimic in a manual test environment. I should also point out that there are more sophisticated solutions for data replication and disaster recovery scenarios, but they are complex and costly.

This was first published in April 2004

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