Configuring routing links

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Message Queuing uses routing links to route messages between sites. When a new Windows Server 2003 site is created, you must also create a corresponding routing link to guarantee that messages can always be sent to other sites. However, you will not be prompted to create a routing link when a new site is created. Create multiple routing links to provide load balancing and redundancy. For more information, see Routing links.

For general information on routing, see Message Queuing routing overview. For instructions on creating a routing link, see Create routing links.

By default, users in the Enterprise Admins group and Domain Admins group can create or modify routing links. For information on how to set permissions for routing links, see Set permissions for routing link objects.

You can change routing-link costs where alternative routes are possible and you want to enforce one route over another route using link costs. You can assign costs that reflect the differences in bandwidth or communications costs between the different links. Costs can range from 1 to 999999.

For example, two sites in one city, called A and B, are connected by a high-speed link, and an overseas site, called C, is connected to site B by a low-speed link. In this case, you can define the cost between A and B as 1, and the cost between B and C as 2. For information on how to change routing-link costs, see Change the cost for a routing link.

A routing link may use Message Queuing servers with routing enabled, called site gates, to route messages between two sites. A routing link can have any number of site gates or no site gate, and each site gate can be in either or both of the sites connected by it. If a routing link is associated with a pair of site gates, one in each site, only those servers are used to transfer messages on the routing link on behalf of clients. It is recommended that all sites in your organization be interconnected using routing links.

After a routing link has been created, you can double-click on the link and change the link's description.

For information on how to change the Message Queuing servers used for a routing link, see Change the site gates for a routing link.