E-Mail Configuration: Internet Link via a relay system
Configuration tips for an HP3000 which accesses the Internet (or any wide area network) via another system (which can use any mail relay or gateway protocol) and where the HP3000 system is not directly Internet (or WAN) reachable or simply does not have a valid (registered) IP address.
This could be a Unix host configured with sendmail (or a similar) e-mail package configured to relay mail.
Special configuration options include:
- Your HP3000 should NOT be configured with a default gateway in NMMGR.
- Your HP3000 should not be configured to point to a (DNS) nameserver.
- You must configure a "trusted gateway" in NetMaint. (Designating the relay system as your trusted gateway.)
- You should ensure that your Internet Service Provider configure DNS "MX" (mail exchanger) records such that the ISP's machine will pass all mail to the relay host on their end, and on to the relay host on your end.
Note that while mail will be sent to the relay host from the 3000 immediately, the relay host may schedule how often it passes on outbound mail and accepts incoming mail from the Internet (or whatever wide area network the relay is connected to).
Also note that since the HP3000 has no access to DNS to verify hostnames when users enter mail recipients, incorrectly spelled or mistyped addresses will be returned by the relay host only after they have been routed to a remote system with DNS access, thus delaying the return of incorrectly addressed messages.
By the way, if you are considering this route because you already have many local hosts configured with IP addresses that were not officially assigned to you (i.e. you made up your own network addresses or used HP's pre-configured addresses) then you should look into commercial firewalls or routers that support the NAT (Network Address Translation) protocol. This allows you to preserve your internal addresses, but still access the Internet and allow limited access from the Internet to your internal network.
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