Outlook, Exchange and Port 1237

We are using Exchange 2000 with Outlook 2000 on the client and seem to have
excessive use of port 1237 on the Exchange server. What is this port used
for and what should be normal use? A search of the MS KB has produce 0 hits
and that is why I'm posting here.

Any clues?

David Fosdike
dfosdike at nospam(leave this out and change 'dots' and 'at') dot elders dot
com dot au

Steve
Tue Feb 08 12:29:52 CST 2005

MAPI uses RPC. RPC services bind themselves to random ports when they start.
Could be that 1237 is one of the three ports Exchange is currently bound to.

Run RPCDUMP from the Resource Kit to see which ports are assigned to which
services.

Steve Riley
steriley@microsoft.com



> We are using Exchange 2000 with Outlook 2000 on the client and seem to
> have excessive use of port 1237 on the Exchange server. What is this
> port used for and what should be normal use? A search of the MS KB
> has produce 0 hits and that is why I'm posting here.
>
> Any clues?
>
> David Fosdike
> dfosdike at nospam(leave this out and change 'dots' and 'at') dot
> elders dot
> com dot au

David
Tue Feb 08 18:45:23 CST 2005

Thanks for your help Steve,

Probably is it - I'll get our Server gurus to check it out. If it is I see
2 problems with MS's method here.

Firstly, using random ports makes for difficulties in network traffic
shaping, particularly if mail needs to be prioritised.

Secondly, using random ports makes for difficulty in firewalling. I have to
allow all ports from my exchange server.

Can the ports be made static?

David

"Steve Riley [MSFT]" <steriley@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:71003632434553991180840@news.microsoft.com...
> MAPI uses RPC. RPC services bind themselves to random ports when they
> start. Could be that 1237 is one of the three ports Exchange is currently
> bound to.
>
> Run RPCDUMP from the Resource Kit to see which ports are assigned to which
> services.
>
> Steve Riley
> steriley@microsoft.com
>
>
>
>> We are using Exchange 2000 with Outlook 2000 on the client and seem to
>> have excessive use of port 1237 on the Exchange server. What is this
>> port used for and what should be normal use? A search of the MS KB
>> has produce 0 hits and that is why I'm posting here.
>>
>> Any clues?
>>
>> David Fosdike
>> dfosdike at nospam(leave this out and change 'dots' and 'at') dot
>> elders dot
>> com dot au
>
>
>

MCSEGURU
Wed Feb 09 00:10:25 CST 2005

MAPI was designed for "trusted" networks where shaping isn't commonly
implemented. It's a bit heavy for anything more than that anyway I think.
Therefore, I don't think they (MS) intended it to be routed to "untrusted"
networks where shaping is commonly implemented. I think MS reccomeneds you
consider using POP3, IMAP, or RPC over HTTP for this scenario.

If you wanted to get really trick with LAN shaping, try implementing an
IPSEC network for all domain traffic, then your "shaping" will only need to
include IPSEC for domain traffic, and you can shape the rest of the stack on
the network as you like.




"David Fosdike" <me@there.com> wrote in message
news:42095c70$0$29789$c30e37c6@lon-reader.news.telstra.net...
> Thanks for your help Steve,
>
> Probably is it - I'll get our Server gurus to check it out. If it is I
> see 2 problems with MS's method here.
>
> Firstly, using random ports makes for difficulties in network traffic
> shaping, particularly if mail needs to be prioritised.
>
> Secondly, using random ports makes for difficulty in firewalling. I have
> to allow all ports from my exchange server.
>
> Can the ports be made static?
>
> David
>
> "Steve Riley [MSFT]" <steriley@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:71003632434553991180840@news.microsoft.com...
>> MAPI uses RPC. RPC services bind themselves to random ports when they
>> start. Could be that 1237 is one of the three ports Exchange is currently
>> bound to.
>>
>> Run RPCDUMP from the Resource Kit to see which ports are assigned to
>> which services.
>>
>> Steve Riley
>> steriley@microsoft.com
>>
>>
>>
>>> We are using Exchange 2000 with Outlook 2000 on the client and seem to
>>> have excessive use of port 1237 on the Exchange server. What is this
>>> port used for and what should be normal use? A search of the MS KB
>>> has produce 0 hits and that is why I'm posting here.
>>>
>>> Any clues?
>>>
>>> David Fosdike
>>> dfosdike at nospam(leave this out and change 'dots' and 'at') dot
>>> elders dot
>>> com dot au
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Karl
Thu Feb 10 05:25:28 CST 2005


"David Fosdike" <me@there.com> wrote in message
news:42095c70$0$29789$c30e37c6@lon-reader.news.telstra.net...
>
> Can the ports be made static?

Yes, and you should do so, to allow it to traverse router / firewall ACLs
and so that it will be easier to identify unexpected traffic on unexpected
ports, do IDS monitoring more easily, etc. You should be able to find the
KB article on how to to this by searching www.google.com for this:
site:microsoft.com exchange static rpc ports
.

David
Fri Feb 11 15:49:25 CST 2005

Thanks MCSEGURU,

One comment though. You probably work in the US where bandwidth is cheap.
I help look after a 400 branch network in Australia using 64Kb and 128Kb
services and even some 32Kb - on top of this we run a lot of Citrix apps,
which if we don't use traffic shaping have problematic keyboard lag. We are
planning to upgrade to a minimum of 128Kb but even with this keyboard lag is
still a problem. Mail protocols, because they are not time-critical, need
to to transported with low priority.

David

"MCSEGURU" <mcseguruhere@aol.com> wrote in message
news:evNaM4mDFHA.1260@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> MAPI was designed for "trusted" networks where shaping isn't commonly
> implemented. It's a bit heavy for anything more than that anyway I think.
> Therefore, I don't think they (MS) intended it to be routed to "untrusted"
> networks where shaping is commonly implemented. I think MS reccomeneds
> you consider using POP3, IMAP, or RPC over HTTP for this scenario.
>
> If you wanted to get really trick with LAN shaping, try implementing an
> IPSEC network for all domain traffic, then your "shaping" will only need
> to include IPSEC for domain traffic, and you can shape the rest of the
> stack on the network as you like.
>
>
>
>
> "David Fosdike" <me@there.com> wrote in message
> news:42095c70$0$29789$c30e37c6@lon-reader.news.telstra.net...
>> Thanks for your help Steve,
>>
>> Probably is it - I'll get our Server gurus to check it out. If it is I
>> see 2 problems with MS's method here.
>>
>> Firstly, using random ports makes for difficulties in network traffic
>> shaping, particularly if mail needs to be prioritised.
>>
>> Secondly, using random ports makes for difficulty in firewalling. I have
>> to allow all ports from my exchange server.
>>
>> Can the ports be made static?
>>
>> David
>>
>> "Steve Riley [MSFT]" <steriley@microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:71003632434553991180840@news.microsoft.com...
>>> MAPI uses RPC. RPC services bind themselves to random ports when they
>>> start. Could be that 1237 is one of the three ports Exchange is
>>> currently bound to.
>>>
>>> Run RPCDUMP from the Resource Kit to see which ports are assigned to
>>> which services.
>>>
>>> Steve Riley
>>> steriley@microsoft.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> We are using Exchange 2000 with Outlook 2000 on the client and seem to
>>>> have excessive use of port 1237 on the Exchange server. What is this
>>>> port used for and what should be normal use? A search of the MS KB
>>>> has produce 0 hits and that is why I'm posting here.
>>>>
>>>> Any clues?
>>>>
>>>> David Fosdike
>>>> dfosdike at nospam(leave this out and change 'dots' and 'at') dot
>>>> elders dot
>>>> com dot au
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>