ESA stands for Email Security Appliance, which is a Cisco product that provides comprehensive email security solutions. ESA can be deployed in different modes, such as gateway, hybrid, or cloud, depending on the customer’s needs and preferences. One of the key components of ESA configuration is the listener, which is a service that listens for incoming SMTP connections on a specific port and interface. A listener can be configured to handle inbound or outbound email, or both, depending on the mail flow policies and sender groups that are applied to it.
One way to segregate inbound and outbound email on ESA is to use a pair of logical listeners on a single physical interface with two unique logical IPv4 addresses and one IPv6 address. This method allows the ESA to have two separate listeners for inbound and outbound email, each with its own IP address and mail flow policies, while using the same physical interface and port. This can simplify the network configuration and reduce the hardware requirements for ESA deployment. The IPv6 address can be used to support dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 environments, or to provide redundancy in case of IPv4 address exhaustion.
The other options are incorrect because:
A is false, as one listener on a single physical interface cannot segregate inbound and outbound email, unless it uses different sender groups and mail flow policies for different hosts, which is not a recommended practice.
C is false, as pair of logical IPv4 listeners and a pair of IPv6 listeners on two physically separate interfaces is an unnecessary and complex configuration that does not provide any additional benefits over option B.
D is false, as one listener on one logical IPv4 address on a single logical interface cannot segregate inbound and outbound email, unless it uses different sender groups and mail flow policies for different hosts, which is not a recommended practice.
[References:, ESA Outbound Traffic Relay Configuration Example, How do I configure a relay host on the ESA for outbound mail?, [Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies (SCOR) v1.0] - Module 5: Securing Email with Cisco Email Security Appliance, Lesson 5.1: Describing the Cisco Email Security Solution, , , , ]
