If you would like to purchase a backup server, please refer to https://www.smartmax.com/purchase_upgrades.aspx, email sales@smartmax.com or call 877-MAILMAX.

Installing your MailMax Backup Server

1. Install a NEW copy of MailMax on a separate server (which will be utilized as your MailMax Backup Server).

2. Go to your MailMax Backup Server and ADD THE DOMAINS that are already setup on your primary server for which you would like to backup.

a.  Set the ‘Domain Type:’ as Backup

b. Enter the MX record in the ‘Backup Priority’ field.
- The Priority of '”Domain type: Backup” in MailMax needs to correspond to the ' MX record' in your DNS.
- NOTE:  ‘Backup Priority’ is ONLY specified on the Backup Domains.

Explanation of MX Records
The way that Mail Exchangers within DNS work is that the lower the number, then higher the priority (ex. 10 is more important than 20). This means that the remote server will attempt the lower numbered MX record first. If it fails to reach that server then it will send to the next lowest MX record. When mail is sent to the second MX record (your MailMax Backup server), MailMax will queue the email and attempt to send the email to a server on the domain with a lower numbered MX record than itself. It will keep trying until the primary server is back online and the email is successfully delivered.

c. When adding a domain in the MailMax Admin Tool, it will force you to create a domain directory. Just create a default directory. This directory is actually irrelevant and not used in the backup server, but MUST be created.

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IMPORTANT:
DO NOT ADD/SETUP USERS UNDER BACKUP DOMAINS
The backup server will NOT run if users are setup under a domain(s). You can delete all users in the MailMax Admin or SQL Database (under the Users Table) if users do exist.
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What Services do the ‘Backup Server’ use?
The only MailMax Services the Backup Server utilizes is DataMax, QueueMax, and SMTPMax.