Exchange Server is a lot like Soccer

With the World Cup in full swing, I found it interesting that Exchange Server has quite a lot in common with the world of Soccer (ok, fine, Football for everyone not in the US). This is especially true if you consider the ball to be an outgoing email message.

You start out in the center, after the outgoing mail has cleared all your internal message hygiene and routing systems. First, you have to have an open connection to the receiver’s SMTP systems, or the message can’t go anywhere. If you find that opening, you can rocket the message toward the recipient, but many things can get in the way.

You might think you’re aiming for the goal, but due to DNS issues or just TCP nuttiness, you could find your message going right out of bounds instead. When you have an eye on the goal, there’s always the chance that the recipient’s mail systems might not be properly configured to talk to yours, resulting in an off-sides call that brings everything to a screeching halt.

Let’s say that things are configured correctly and you have all the routing information down. The recipient’s guardian systems (anti-virus, anti-spam) might be tuned up high enough to block the message, sending it rocketing right back at your face.

Finally, if you manage to not get caught by their defense (because your message isn’t spam or infected, of course) and you have the right route to the recipient’s mailbox, then the message hits the goal and everyone cheers while you run screaming around the… wait… ok, I suppose the analogy might not be perfect.

On the flipside, you have all of your defenses set up to block any mal-formed messages, spam, and infected objects from ever reaching your goal. Creating a whopping offense but no defense is just as dangerous as the other way round.

Finally, if a player gets injured – or even ejected – you need to have other players pre-trained and ready to go.  Much like you’ll need to ensure you have High Availability set up in your environment in case a server gets taken out of play. 

Luckily, the messages reach goal more often than the ball does in professional soccer. But as you watch the matches, think about the analogy, and you might be surprised just how easy it becomes to explain Exchange Server methodology to a non-techie. At least it is if your listener is watching the match =)