multiple issues for remote sites
 

We are running BES2000 SP2a (no Hotfixes). On exchange 5.5 (SP4) we have anumber of exchange sites, the BES server serves users in Site London. We have afew users in Site Tokyo who have been enabled to use this BES server. The two sites (London & Tokyo) are connected via X400 connector in Exchange5.5, message flow seems to be working but users in Tokyo are complaining about the "lookup" function doesnt work at times and is receiving mails is slow.

any ideas what should do to get this working properly.

First of all RIM, doesn't recommend using BES accross sites. Depending on your bandwidth, the Tokyo folks complaint is probably right. Also, being on Exchange 5.5 and I'm sure what BES 2000 is. Do you mean BES 2.0? I would suggest getting to the latest BES version 4.0 and really getting exchange upgraded to 2003 as well but that is a big undertaking, I know.

yes, we have BES2.0a. Thanks for your comment. Is there an official statement where it say that its not recommended across sites using exchange 5.5 ?

sure I've seen one. All my sites are fast connected so I work across sites, but when implemented I'm sure we were warned to consider...

We have a 1Meg between us and them. If I can find a written statement somewhere, then we can push for a new server installation for that site.

I have spoken to our service provider and they have told me 1 BES server serving Multiple Exchange sites is support.

Now I have noticed that it takes about 5mins or so, so the status to change (in cradle or running) on the BES server which is in the london site with the users mailbox in the remote hong Kong site. is there something I can do to speed this up or is this because of the bandwidth isnt good enough.

Not sure who your service provider is but RIM will tell you, "yes it may work but officially, we don't support multiples sites per BES" Documentation for it would be found at http://www.blackberry.com. And yes, I'd be pretty sure your delay is do to bandwidth issues. As I stated earlier, MAPI is very chatty and it is not the only traffic going through your pipe so it could be slow depending on what you are running through your pipe.

Could you please send me the link to the page where it says about the multiple sites issue. That way I can use that to support the case for a 2nd BES server to be installed in HK.

Kul, I don't know the exact page. That is why I gave you Blackberry's URL. I was kind of hoping you could do a little searching on your own to find that.

I did it and couldnt find anywhere specific, which is why I asked. Yes, it does say that its not a recommended due to latency issues but I was hoping that it would be more specific i.e. NOT SUPPORTED.

anyway thanks for your advice.