Domino gives Exchange Server a run for its money
Lotus is preparing to release Domino 5.0 and give Microsoft Exchange Server a run for its money. The changes in Domino 5.0 are the most fundamental of any version since the first release. Veteran Domino users will want to take advantage of these updates. Even Exchange Server users will be interested in Domino 5.0's improvements. For information about choosing between Domino and Exchange Server, see the sidebar "Domino vs. Exchange Server," page 94.
Users commonly refer to the server and client products as Lotus Notes. However, Domino is the server product, and Notes is the client product. Users often think of Domino as one product. However, the Domino family comprises three server products. The Domino Mail Server provides email and discussion database support. The Domino Application Server adds the Web server and GroupWare application support users typically think of as Domino. The Domino Enterprise Server adds application-level support for clustering, such as load balancing and failover for Notes and Web clients and support for Microsoft Cluster Server. Unless otherwise noted, I use the term Domino to refer to the Domino Application Server.
I can't cover all of Domino's features in this article. However, I cover the main new features: the new database structure, increased support for Internet standards, the new administration tool, and the updated Notes client.
New Database Structure
Domino's new database structure doesn't have the previous 4GB database limit. The new limit for Windows NT is 32GB. Because no theoretical limit exists, this limit will likely increase as Lotus continues to test and verify larger database sizes.
Previous versions of Domino required enough free disk space to copy a database before the program could compress it. After you convert existing databases to the new structure, subsequent processes can compress databases without having to copy them first. In past versions, the compression wouldn't run if users were working in a database, and users were unable to access the database while the process was running. Now, the compression process can run while users are working in a database. As in previous releases, if you don't want to use the new database structure (e.g., for compatibility reasons), you can rename the database with an .ns4 extension or use the compact feature with the -r option.
The new database structure lets you log transactional updates. Updates take place in the sequential log file, and the Domino databases then update in the background. Thus, you have quicker database updates and more responsive applications. When you have a system failure and need to restart the Domino server, the server can quickly process transactions from the log and resume operation. In the past, the server had to determine which databases were open at the time of the failure and check each database's integrity. If you prefer, you can disable the logging feature with a setting in the notes.ini file or the server document in the Domino directory. Also, you can enable circular or archival logging, and you can select the location of logs and the number and size of log files to use. To disable these options at the database level, change the database property or use the console command
load compact sales.nsf -t
The same command with an uppercase T (i.e., -T) reenables logging.
Working with Domino's transaction logs is similar to working with Exchange Server's transaction logs (for details, see Tony Redmond, "Exchange Server Transaction Logs," page 121). For optimal performance and recoverability, place the transaction logs on a separate drive from the databases. Usually, you need to use archival rather than circular logging. Archival logging saves all logs until the next full backup. You need to perform regular backups so that the drive doesn't fill up. The main advantage of archival logging is that when you restore a database because of a drive failure, the log files roll forward against the restored database and you don't lose data. Circular logging reuses log files as transactions take place. If a drive fails, circular logs aren't useful. You have to revert to the latest backup.
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