MX Record Questions - HELP!
I have some questions regarding how MX records function.
First, I want to setup a redundant server as a backup so that if one mailserver goes down, the second will pick it up. This being the case, I would have two hosting accounts both configured for the email with all usernames/mailboxes.
The domain this is for is savantmediagroup.com, which uses "savantmediagroup.com" for the incoming (POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) servers in Outlook - here is the current MX record:
savantmediagroup.com. IN MX 10 host.amsnac.com.
www.savantmediagroup.com. IN MX 10 host.amsnac.com.
savantmediagroup.com. IN NS ns.nameservers.net.
savantmediagroup.com. IN NS ns2.nameservers.net.
savantmediagroup.com. IN NS ns3.nameservers.net.
savantmediagroup.com. IN A 208.55.225.179
ftp.savantmediagroup.com. IN A 208.55.225.179
www.savantmediagroup.com. IN A 208.55.225.179
smtp.savantmediagroup.com. IN A 208.55.225.179
webmail.savantmediagroup.com. IN A 208.55.225.179
Would it make sense to be able to add:
savantmediagroup.com. IN MX 20 host2.amsnac.com.
www.savantmediagroup.com. IN MX 20 host2.amsnac.com.
in order to set it up to default to the second server? Or is only one record allowed for each (would it have to be replaced, leaving it as only one server still)?
Now, a second and more puzzling problem is this:
I updated the MX record (as seen above) yesterday to try it out. The mail is no longer going to the old server and I have verified that it is arriving at the new server via Webmail. I also seem to be able to send mail using the new MX settings (I use Outlook from Office XP). In the example above, this should be modified to apply to the POP3 and SMTP servers, correct? Or is there something to that smtp.savantmediagroup.com entry that is still pointing to the IP of the old server? If so, is it possible to set up a secondary SMTP server?
The problem I'm having now is I am unable to RECEIVE any messages using Outlook. I can send messages using it, but not receive. The mail is on the server, however, as verified in Webmail. I am using the same settings as before - "savantmediagroup.com" for incoming mailserver. Yet it is not working.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help! I'll be checking on this post regularly for any updates!
Andrew
--- I forgot to add that I CAN receive mail if I set the incoming server up in Outlook as "host.amsnac.com" - why is it not working without changing this since I updated the MX record???
