# Recommendations for the Exchange Mailbox ContentStore Mailbox

To create an efficient SMTP journaling process, consider the following recommendations.

- To avoid creating duplicate journal reports, create only one journal contact for the entire organization.

- For high-availability and load balancing, configure at least two ContentStore Mail Servers (SMTP).

- To achieve load balancing and fault tolerance, deploy one Send connector with multiple smart hosts (that is, the ContentStore Mail Servers (SMTP)).

- If you have multiple ContentStore Mail Servers (SMTP), and you must perform maintenance on them, do so one server at a time so that the remaining servers can continue to receive messages. Do not disable all the servers at the same time.

- To prevent the server from becoming overloaded, monitor the system resources by doing the following:

  - Configure alerts to monitor the Exchange queue.

  - Make sure that there is enough free space left on the Exchange server queue database drives.

  For more information, consult Microsoft documentation. For example, see the article on the Microsoft TechNet site that corresponds with your version of Exchange.

  - Exchange 2010, 2013, and 2016: "Understanding back pressure", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201658.aspx#Information

  - Exchange 2007: "Understanding Back Pressure", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201658(v=exchg.80).aspx

- To prevent the loss of journaling reports, create an alternate journaling mailbox. If the journaling mailbox becomes unavailable, the alternate journal mailbox receives the journal reports until the journaling mailbox is available again. If you have an Microsoft 365 with Exchange environment, creating an alternate journal mailbox is mandatory.

  For more information, consult Microsoft documentation. For example, see the article on the Microsoft TechNet site that corresponds with your version of Exchange.

  - Microsoft 365 with Exchange Online: Configure Journaling in Exchange Online

  - Exchange 2016: "Journaling in Exchange 2016", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998649(v=exchg.160).aspx

  - Exchange 2013: "Journaling", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998649(v=exchg.150).aspx

  - Exchange 2010: "Configure or Remove an Alternate Journaling Mailbox", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201717

  - Exchange 2007: "How to Configure an Alternate Journaling Mailbox", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201717(v=exchg.80)

- Upload a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate and encrypt communications when you configure the ContentStore Mail Server (SMTP).

- Due to possible port conflict, Exchange server should not be used as an access node.

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