How can I use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to secure traffic between my front-end and back-end servers running Exchange 2000 Server?
You can use SSL to protect traffic between clients and the front end, but you can't make Exchange 2000 use SSL to protect communications between the front end and back end. You might consider using Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000 or a similar firewall to create an SSL bridge between the front end and back end. Another option is to use Windows 2000's built-in support for the IP Security (IPSec) protocol extensions to secure front-end to back-end chatter. IPSec is transparent to Exchange 2000, and you don't need an SSL certificate. Microsoft's Web site has numerous white papers and how-to documents that describe how to set up IPSec on Win2K. The Microsoft guide "Using Microsoft Exchange 2000 Front-End Servers" (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=43997&area=search&ordinal=69) describes how to use IPSec with Exchange 2000.
