newbie - simple questions 1

[fluid11]

I'm new to Domino/Notes and just set up a server on a Linux box. I'm looking to replace the Exchange servers on my network.

I have a few simple questions for you Domino/Notes experts.

From what I understand, every user has a username.id file associated with their account. Why is this file stored on both the workstation and the server? Where in the server is it installed?

It looks like users mail is stored in /notesdata/mail/username.nsf. Is all of a users data stored in this file? If so, does this mean that all I need to backup up for each user is their associated /mail/username.nsf file?

I noticed during the Notes client installation you have to specify the program directory and the data directory. Is it common to direct the data directory to a network file server, something like an F: drive? I'd like to direct this to my NetWare servers if thats what is normally done.

Thanks for any feedback on this. There doesn't seem to be much documentation out there for the easy stuff, only the advanced stuff.

Chris

 

[FredWagner]

Our Notes system was set up by a team from IBM, and yes, the data directories are on a network drive. I would make it a big drive, and NOT the boot volume on your server, and NOT have compression activated on it, since you can't directly control how much people store in their .nsf files.
We CAN have .id files on local drives, but it is discouraged - they're kept on the network, in a directory mapped for each user, so if the Help Desk needs to change one for a user, they can drop it right into the directory.

Fred Wagner
frwagne@ci.long-beach.ca.us

 

[fluid11]

Thanks for your response.

I noticed that the data directories are about 110MB after the default installation of Notes. This is before any data is even added to them from the users. Thats a lot to put on a file server for every user. I want all of the users to store their information on the Domino server. What kinds of information is stored in the C:/Lotus/Data (default path) directory on the users workstations?

You said that you map a drive for each .id file. Is this a separate mapping from the Lotus data directory or do you just keep the .id file along with the other data? If its a separate mapping, is this the only file on that network drive?

Under what circumstances would you need to change someone's .id file? The only thing that I can think of is if you added recovery information to it.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[FredWagner]

My own C:\Lotus\Notes\Data directory is about 68MB, and my mailbox on the network is around 86MB, but I'm an exception - most user mailboxes are limited to a smaller size - I don't have acces to just how the Admin group limites them. You would change an ID file if the user forgets their ID, or if management exercises their right to read user's mail, and temporarily changes their password while they read it, then change it back. This possibility is part of the organization's Computer Security Policy.

Fred Wagner
frwagne@ci.long-beach.ca.us

 

[fluid11]

Oh, so you do keep your data at C:\Lotus\Data? I thought that you redirected it to a network drive, like H:\username\notesdata or something? What kind of information is stored in C:\Lotus\Data? I'd like to eliminate this and store everything on the Domino server. During the Notes installation, there is an option for a "Shared" installation that removes the option to install a Data directory on the client. Does this mean that everything will be stored on the Domino server instead?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[FredWagner]

There are about 50 files in my C:\Lotus\Notes\Data - the bookmarks, the desktop, the CACHE.DSK, lots of NTF files, my address book. Whether you put files on the desktop or on the server depends on your network loading - we have a big WAN here, and like to minimize the WAN traffic, so files on the desktop PC make things better for everyone, for system response. We also have some users who use the Web Access client only - no desktop client at all, just a bookmark for their browser. What's best depends on your own situation.

Fred Wagner
frwagne@ci.long-beach.ca.us

 

[fluid11]

Do you know if a users /mail/username.nsf file on the server contains their entire mailbox, including all mail, calendars, tasks, etc...?

ChrisP

 

[fluid11]

Do you know if a users /mail/username.nsf file on the server contains their entire mailbox, including all mail, calendars, tasks, etc...?
If it does, then the mail directory on the server is all I need to back up, as far as the users data goes.

ChrisP