There's this great entitlement that came with your ND 8 licenses that I think just hasn't gotten enough press. This new entitlement is for Tivoli Directory Integrator, or TDI. You see, Notes/Domino R8 came with an entitlement to use Tivoli Directory Integrator - it's completely free for you to use - as long as Domino is one of the systems you use in your assembly lines.
Have you heard of it? Well, let me tell you...you just might start singing it's praises if you aren't already!
So, what is TDI? First of all, the term "Directory" in the product name I think is a little misleading, as TDI can be used for integrating anything- not just directories. In essence, TDI reads databases or files in many different formats and can push that data into Domino. For instance..it can take data out of your HR system and put it into a Domino database or the Domino Directory. Or it can take data out of Active Directory into Domino. Or from a web service or SAP or whatever into Domino! It's practically limitless in what it can connect to and how you can use it to populate Domino!
What does this mean to you? Well, many of my customers have asked me lately the following questions:
I'm sure many of you have the same questions - or ones similar. Do you know what my first answer is to those questions? Yup.. TDI! You have this great, little-known tool totally FREE to you that does so much of what you need...and I bet you didn't even know it!
So...what is it..how do you get started? Below are some links to great information to get you started. And, please, let me know...are you interested in hearing more? More details? More how-to's? I'm thinking about doing a series on TDI like I did for DAOS. What do you think? Would that be worthwhile???
Video on How to Integrate Domino with Active Directory using TDI
Document on Lotus Domino Integration with Tivoli Directory Integrator
Learning TDI (TDI 101)
TDI Users Group and Forum
Happy Reading!!! (TDI ROCKS!!!)
Have you heard of it? Well, let me tell you...you just might start singing it's praises if you aren't already!
So, what is TDI? First of all, the term "Directory" in the product name I think is a little misleading, as TDI can be used for integrating anything- not just directories. In essence, TDI reads databases or files in many different formats and can push that data into Domino. For instance..it can take data out of your HR system and put it into a Domino database or the Domino Directory. Or it can take data out of Active Directory into Domino. Or from a web service or SAP or whatever into Domino! It's practically limitless in what it can connect to and how you can use it to populate Domino!
What does this mean to you? Well, many of my customers have asked me lately the following questions:
- How do I use my Active Directory username/password for logging into iNotes?
- How can I get my AD and Domino names to synchronize?
- How can I get information like phone numbers or location out of my HR system into my Domino Directory?
- My Sametime (or Quickr) environment points to AD for login/authentication - how do I used that same info for iNotes?
I'm sure many of you have the same questions - or ones similar. Do you know what my first answer is to those questions? Yup.. TDI! You have this great, little-known tool totally FREE to you that does so much of what you need...and I bet you didn't even know it!
So...what is it..how do you get started? Below are some links to great information to get you started. And, please, let me know...are you interested in hearing more? More details? More how-to's? I'm thinking about doing a series on TDI like I did for DAOS. What do you think? Would that be worthwhile???
Video on How to Integrate Domino with Active Directory using TDI
Document on Lotus Domino Integration with Tivoli Directory Integrator
Learning TDI (TDI 101)
TDI Users Group and Forum
Happy Reading!!! (TDI ROCKS!!!)
DCT, ID Vault and DAOS, Oh My!
April 23 2009
So much good information, so many resources, and so little time! If you're like me, you HAVE to be thinking that about all the great resources out there for information about the new features in Domino 8.5! However, in case you haven't seen them, I wanted to point out a couple of resources that I think are of "special" importance!
Domino Configuration Tuner
So, I've written a few entries about DCT and how totally AWESOME it is! I've had tons of customers use it already and they have just been amazed at how much it's helped them and how much it's pointed out about their environments. And..I'm sure you're certainly aware of the great entries in the wiki on DCT and the great job Scott O'Keefe has been doing about keeping you updated on new DCT stuff. Well, Scott is at it again..this time with his very own blog! Enter the 'Tuner Blog! That's right - Scott has a blog out there to enhance the awareness of the Domino Configuration Tuner and keep you apprised of new rule implementations. And yes, the leading apostrophe is intentional - an homage to the old QuickTune days! Head on over - there's some GREAT stuff out there!
ID Vault
This great feature has also been getting press lately, and many of you have asked about ID Vault and how to implement it. Well, if you HAVE implemented it, or are thinking about it, make sure you take a look at this technote and you get Interim Fix 3. There are some mandatory fixes in it for ID Vault.
DAOS
You all know how near and dear to my heart DAOS is. I just can't stop writing about it! So, take a look here! That's right - yours truly co-wrote an article for developerWorks on DAOS! I teamed up with Gary Rheaume (Lead Architect) and Pat Mancuso (Principle Architect and Developer) -- two great minds in the DAOS camp - to bring you information about how IBM is implementing DAOS and how you can achieve ultimate storage and server cost savings with DAOS in your own environment. If I do say so myself, it's a fabulous article!! ;-) Take a look - hopefully it will help you in your quest to justify DAOS in your environment.
On a side note...
You've probably been noticing that my posts are a bit few and far between these days and I apologize for that. Well, for the next month and a half, I'll try to get some guest bloggers in here to help out and bring you more frequent information. You see, I brought a little life into this world on April 5th (her name is Amelia), and I've been a bit preoccupied! Technically I'm out on maternity leave until late June, but the blog must go on! So, bear with me and please keep checking back - there will be more to come!!
Domino Configuration Tuner
So, I've written a few entries about DCT and how totally AWESOME it is! I've had tons of customers use it already and they have just been amazed at how much it's helped them and how much it's pointed out about their environments. And..I'm sure you're certainly aware of the great entries in the wiki on DCT and the great job Scott O'Keefe has been doing about keeping you updated on new DCT stuff. Well, Scott is at it again..this time with his very own blog! Enter the 'Tuner Blog! That's right - Scott has a blog out there to enhance the awareness of the Domino Configuration Tuner and keep you apprised of new rule implementations. And yes, the leading apostrophe is intentional - an homage to the old QuickTune days! Head on over - there's some GREAT stuff out there!
ID Vault
This great feature has also been getting press lately, and many of you have asked about ID Vault and how to implement it. Well, if you HAVE implemented it, or are thinking about it, make sure you take a look at this technote and you get Interim Fix 3. There are some mandatory fixes in it for ID Vault.
DAOS
You all know how near and dear to my heart DAOS is. I just can't stop writing about it! So, take a look here! That's right - yours truly co-wrote an article for developerWorks on DAOS! I teamed up with Gary Rheaume (Lead Architect) and Pat Mancuso (Principle Architect and Developer) -- two great minds in the DAOS camp - to bring you information about how IBM is implementing DAOS and how you can achieve ultimate storage and server cost savings with DAOS in your own environment. If I do say so myself, it's a fabulous article!! ;-) Take a look - hopefully it will help you in your quest to justify DAOS in your environment.
On a side note...
You've probably been noticing that my posts are a bit few and far between these days and I apologize for that. Well, for the next month and a half, I'll try to get some guest bloggers in here to help out and bring you more frequent information. You see, I brought a little life into this world on April 5th (her name is Amelia), and I've been a bit preoccupied! Technically I'm out on maternity leave until late June, but the blog must go on! So, bear with me and please keep checking back - there will be more to come!!
Domino 8.5 Performance Benchmarks
March 12 2009
We had some issues last week with the blog disappearing from sight for a couple of days. Sorry to the readers out there! But...we're back, and so is some great news! In fact, it's such great news, I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about it!
The Domino 8.5 Performance Benchmarks are out! This great article outlines the performance improvements seen in benchmark testing simply by upgrading from Domino 8.0.x to Domino 8.5. And let me tell you...there are some IMPRESSIVE numbers in there! The tests performed were intended to mimic the actions of everyday Notes/Domino users - with messaging and calendar operations on the server. Then, the team measured % processor busy, disk operations per second and disk megabytes transferred per second.
We've been telling you that Domino 8.5 is THE release to help reduce TCO and these benchmarks help prove that! The article summarizes:
So..take a look at the results! You also might want to think about moving to Domino 8.5 soon!
The Domino 8.5 Performance Benchmarks are out! This great article outlines the performance improvements seen in benchmark testing simply by upgrading from Domino 8.0.x to Domino 8.5. And let me tell you...there are some IMPRESSIVE numbers in there! The tests performed were intended to mimic the actions of everyday Notes/Domino users - with messaging and calendar operations on the server. Then, the team measured % processor busy, disk operations per second and disk megabytes transferred per second.
We've been telling you that Domino 8.5 is THE release to help reduce TCO and these benchmarks help prove that! The article summarizes:
You can realize substantial I/O reductions, reductions in disk operations per second by 22 percent to 33 percent, and reductions in disk bytes transferred per second by 31 percent to 67 percent. In addition, processor utilization has been reduced by as much as 20 percent. Upgrading to Lotus Domino 8.5 can lower your Lotus Domino deployment total cost of ownership.
So..take a look at the results! You also might want to think about moving to Domino 8.5 soon!
Making Notes ROCK on Citrix
February 12 2009
I've noticed an interesting trend over the last couple of months. More and more of my customers are talking about Citrix. I think it's the "cost-cutting" mode that we're all in these days, and while I don't know a lot about Citrix, I know it has been one way that customers are cutting back on desktop hardware, etc.
So, I've been getting more and more questions about Notes on Citrix and how to make it perform for the Notes 8.x client. So..in the interest of helping to educate the masses, I decided to learn about it myself and let you all in on some great configurations our Notes/Citrix team has been working with! So...here you go!
We all know the Notes 8.x client isn't exactly what we would call "light". There's a LOT of stuff in there (and that's OK)! With Expeditor being used as a foundation and with all the great plug-ins and features we've added, it can take a fair amount of memory to run. And, apparently, therein lies the issue when trying to put Notes clients on Citrix for end-users. And, what exactly does that mean to you, the Notes or Citrix administrator?
Well, in the Notes 7.x days, a typical Citrix deployment would be able to house approximately 35 Notes users on a single Citrix server. When Notes 8.0 came along, things worked a little bit differently. Initially, the Notes 8.0 client did not collocate all components and this caused issues when running on centralized servers - like Citrix. And, the Notes 8.0 client footprint was very large in comparison to 7.x and therefore the number of users you were able to place on a single Citrix server was significantly smaller - possibly even 1/3 of what you were able to house before! Obviously, this was not optimal and made it so that many customers running Citrix would be faced with what many called an "undeployable" situation.
Obviously, with more and more of you running Citrix, something had to change! So, in 8.0.2, the focus was on scalability improvements - including a reduction in the memory footprint in general and then the developers asked themselves the question "Is there anything specific to Citrix that can help?". So, they collaborated with Citrix and brought a Citrix engineer on-site to work with the dev team to see what could be done. And lo and behold - cool things happened!!!
One of the performance changes from 8.0.2 was a Notes-specific setting that was created that helped with the java class setting. It had no major impact on single user clients, but made a significant impact in a multi-user client setting - like Citrix. Essentially, it made it so that the client could share java classes across all the clients - saving a lot of resources!
Another change was the ability to support PAE on 32-bit systems, which allows 32-bit applications to access memory beyond the 4GB RAM limit. So, when we move from a base Citrix system (Win 2003 with 4GB RAM) to a system with 8GB RAM, we can effectively double the number of users on that system. So we're taking better advantage of the hardware.
Then, for Citrix only, development made the option to support running the Notes client on a 64-bit system - which means you can now have access to "almost unlimited" amount of memory. What does this mean in terms of deployment? Well, development tested a quad-core, 32Gb system and showed that they could increase the number of users on the system from 40-60 users to almost 150 users on a single Citrix system! That's a HUGE benefit for those of you running Citrix! You could potentially reduce the size of your Citrix farms!
Of course, there are a TON of details out there on how to do this and I guarantee I'm not doing this justice (I'm not a Citrix administrator)!! So take a look for yourself... There is a white paper about scalability for Notes 8.0.2 on Citrix XenApp 4.5. that outlines all this information including the testing configurations and results. This white paper is currently about Notes 8.0.2, but will be updated for 8.5 in the very near future.
So..there you have it!! Citrix administrators rejoice!!
Oh..and the developers aren't done! This is an evolving process and obviously they would like to do more. As we move forward with new Notes releases, the developers are looking to improve more - like the installation process on Citrix or easier upgrades from previous versions of Notes. This might eve include making the install program Citrix-aware. But..the developers need your help! What do you need? What do you see, as a Citrix administrator that concerns you about Notes on Citrix? What issues/concerns do you have? Feel free to comment here or send me an email and I'll forward that information on! Your feedback will help!
So, I've been getting more and more questions about Notes on Citrix and how to make it perform for the Notes 8.x client. So..in the interest of helping to educate the masses, I decided to learn about it myself and let you all in on some great configurations our Notes/Citrix team has been working with! So...here you go!
We all know the Notes 8.x client isn't exactly what we would call "light". There's a LOT of stuff in there (and that's OK)! With Expeditor being used as a foundation and with all the great plug-ins and features we've added, it can take a fair amount of memory to run. And, apparently, therein lies the issue when trying to put Notes clients on Citrix for end-users. And, what exactly does that mean to you, the Notes or Citrix administrator?
Well, in the Notes 7.x days, a typical Citrix deployment would be able to house approximately 35 Notes users on a single Citrix server. When Notes 8.0 came along, things worked a little bit differently. Initially, the Notes 8.0 client did not collocate all components and this caused issues when running on centralized servers - like Citrix. And, the Notes 8.0 client footprint was very large in comparison to 7.x and therefore the number of users you were able to place on a single Citrix server was significantly smaller - possibly even 1/3 of what you were able to house before! Obviously, this was not optimal and made it so that many customers running Citrix would be faced with what many called an "undeployable" situation.
Obviously, with more and more of you running Citrix, something had to change! So, in 8.0.2, the focus was on scalability improvements - including a reduction in the memory footprint in general and then the developers asked themselves the question "Is there anything specific to Citrix that can help?". So, they collaborated with Citrix and brought a Citrix engineer on-site to work with the dev team to see what could be done. And lo and behold - cool things happened!!!
One of the performance changes from 8.0.2 was a Notes-specific setting that was created that helped with the java class setting. It had no major impact on single user clients, but made a significant impact in a multi-user client setting - like Citrix. Essentially, it made it so that the client could share java classes across all the clients - saving a lot of resources!
Another change was the ability to support PAE on 32-bit systems, which allows 32-bit applications to access memory beyond the 4GB RAM limit. So, when we move from a base Citrix system (Win 2003 with 4GB RAM) to a system with 8GB RAM, we can effectively double the number of users on that system. So we're taking better advantage of the hardware.
Then, for Citrix only, development made the option to support running the Notes client on a 64-bit system - which means you can now have access to "almost unlimited" amount of memory. What does this mean in terms of deployment? Well, development tested a quad-core, 32Gb system and showed that they could increase the number of users on the system from 40-60 users to almost 150 users on a single Citrix system! That's a HUGE benefit for those of you running Citrix! You could potentially reduce the size of your Citrix farms!
Of course, there are a TON of details out there on how to do this and I guarantee I'm not doing this justice (I'm not a Citrix administrator)!! So take a look for yourself... There is a white paper about scalability for Notes 8.0.2 on Citrix XenApp 4.5. that outlines all this information including the testing configurations and results. This white paper is currently about Notes 8.0.2, but will be updated for 8.5 in the very near future.
So..there you have it!! Citrix administrators rejoice!!
Oh..and the developers aren't done! This is an evolving process and obviously they would like to do more. As we move forward with new Notes releases, the developers are looking to improve more - like the installation process on Citrix or easier upgrades from previous versions of Notes. This might eve include making the install program Citrix-aware. But..the developers need your help! What do you need? What do you see, as a Citrix administrator that concerns you about Notes on Citrix? What issues/concerns do you have? Feel free to comment here or send me an email and I'll forward that information on! Your feedback will help!
Post Lotusphere Entry by Russ Holden
January 26 2009
Well, Lotusphere 2009 came and passed, and what an event!! There was so much information to gather, and too little time to hit all the sessions. Suffice it to say - there's some GREAT stuff out there for you all in Notes/Domino 8.5 and in all our extended products! It's going to be a great year!
For our first entry after the fabulous Lotusphere 2009, Russ Holden, Lotus Domino Chief Architect and IBM Distinguished Engineer wanted to say a few words and provide you all with an update on one of his presentations.
Thanks so much, Russ for posting your presentation and for everything you and your team has done on Domino 8.5 - it's truly an amazing release!
You can find Russ' slides here...
For our first entry after the fabulous Lotusphere 2009, Russ Holden, Lotus Domino Chief Architect and IBM Distinguished Engineer wanted to say a few words and provide you all with an update on one of his presentations.
Lotusphere 2009 was a huge success for the Domino team. The reception of Domino 8.5 and its key features and messages was overwhelmingly positive. In particular, the two major features which customers can deploy immediately - DAOS and XPages, were big hits. Notes ID Vault was also extremely well received and recognized as a game changer for ID file and password management. And, of course, we got a lot of feedback about what we still need to do and starting immediately (or Monday anyway) we'll get to work on the next big set of needs.
To follow up on a promise I made I'm posting the slides from the ID204 ("How to Reduce Disk Costs using Domino 8.5") that Nirmala Venkatraman and I did. We made very heavy changes to our slides from the time of the initial posting to allow us to test Domino 8.5 Gold code and we wanted to make sure we presented the latest and greatest performance data.
- Russ Holden, Lotus Domino Chief Architect and IBM Distinguished Engineer
Thanks so much, Russ for posting your presentation and for everything you and your team has done on Domino 8.5 - it's truly an amazing release!
You can find Russ' slides here...
It’s DAOS Time Again
January 14 2009
I'm putting back on my "DAOS Guru" hat for a moment to tell you some exciting news for those of you looking to implement this great new feature in Domino 8.5. The DAOS team has been hard at work putting together some great documentation for you on all things DAOS!
If you haven't visited the Lotus Notes and Domino Wiki before, you really should take a look now. Not only do we have the great policy documentation up there mentioned in previous posts, we now have some GREAT entries on DAOS. I encourage you to head over there to take a look. In the meantime, here's a teaser of the kind of information you'll find...
DAOS FAQ:
This blog has talked a lot about what DAOS is and general concepts, but do you still wonder what you do if your DAOS catalog needs resync'd? Also, how do you tell if attachments are really being created in the DAOS store? What kind of troubleshooting can you do? The FAQ wiki entry is a great place to get started to help you answer all those questions and more!
DAOS Backup and Restore:
I know MANY of you are waiting for this entry! I gave you a teaser in one of my blog entries that development would be coming out with much more detailed information on how to do backups and restores of DAOS information and here it is! This wiki entry is chock-full of detailed information including commands to run when doing restores, how to restore DAOS objects and how it all works when dealing with clusters. A must-read if you are going to implement DAOS!
DAOS: How to Setup Resynchronization Events with DDM:
Once you have DAOS up and running in your organization, you will probably want to setup some DDM events on it. This wiki entry gives you all the information you need on how to do that and what things to watch out for in terms of event messages as well. So, to make sure you keep your environment running smoothly, take a look at this!
So..those are the main entries up there now, but trust me, more are coming! (including one on best practices) So, keep an eye out on the wiki home page for the DAOS tag and happy reading!
Oh...and don't forget...you can also learn about all these things and more at Lotusphere 2009! There are quite a few entries on DAOS, so hope to see you there!
If you haven't visited the Lotus Notes and Domino Wiki before, you really should take a look now. Not only do we have the great policy documentation up there mentioned in previous posts, we now have some GREAT entries on DAOS. I encourage you to head over there to take a look. In the meantime, here's a teaser of the kind of information you'll find...
DAOS FAQ:
This blog has talked a lot about what DAOS is and general concepts, but do you still wonder what you do if your DAOS catalog needs resync'd? Also, how do you tell if attachments are really being created in the DAOS store? What kind of troubleshooting can you do? The FAQ wiki entry is a great place to get started to help you answer all those questions and more!
DAOS Backup and Restore:
I know MANY of you are waiting for this entry! I gave you a teaser in one of my blog entries that development would be coming out with much more detailed information on how to do backups and restores of DAOS information and here it is! This wiki entry is chock-full of detailed information including commands to run when doing restores, how to restore DAOS objects and how it all works when dealing with clusters. A must-read if you are going to implement DAOS!
DAOS: How to Setup Resynchronization Events with DDM:
Once you have DAOS up and running in your organization, you will probably want to setup some DDM events on it. This wiki entry gives you all the information you need on how to do that and what things to watch out for in terms of event messages as well. So, to make sure you keep your environment running smoothly, take a look at this!
So..those are the main entries up there now, but trust me, more are coming! (including one on best practices) So, keep an eye out on the wiki home page for the DAOS tag and happy reading!
Oh...and don't forget...you can also learn about all these things and more at Lotusphere 2009! There are quite a few entries on DAOS, so hope to see you there!
Domino 8.5 certified on Windows 2008
January 14 2009
Great News just in time for Lotusphere 2009!
The Domino development and other teams have just signed off on Domino 8.5 platform certification for Windows 2008! Testing is complete on this platform and you will soon see the Domino 8.5 release notes and technotes updated with this new support information.
Way to go Domino development and testing teams!
The Domino development and other teams have just signed off on Domino 8.5 platform certification for Windows 2008! Testing is complete on this platform and you will soon see the Domino 8.5 release notes and technotes updated with this new support information.
Way to go Domino development and testing teams!
Notes/Domino 8.5 is OUT!
January 6 2009
You heard right, folks! Notes/Domino 8.5 has officially been released! The long-awaited announcement was made today at MacWorld Expo! Rather than repeat all the links, etc. here, I would recommend you head over to Ed Brill's blog and check out his blog post on it. He provides a number of links for you, including the official release letter.
OH..and don't forget! If you are planning on upgrading your servers soon to 8.5, there is already an interim fix. Don't forget to add that as well. It can be found on Fix Central. Just select Lotus, Lotus Domino, 8.5.0.0 and your operating system, then sign-in to get the fix.
Happy loading!
OH..and don't forget! If you are planning on upgrading your servers soon to 8.5, there is already an interim fix. Don't forget to add that as well. It can be found on Fix Central. Just select Lotus, Lotus Domino, 8.5.0.0 and your operating system, then sign-in to get the fix.
Happy loading!
A Thought on Lotusphere 2009 Sessions
December 17 2008
I was going through my list of things to blog about and I realized something... the things I want to blog about are some of the best topics covered at Lotusphere 2009! All the discussions I've had with the developers on more of the cool stuff coming out in Notes/Domino 8.5 as well as some of the case studies about topics I've already blogged about will be sessions you can attend yourself!
So, rather than spoil the surprise, I decided I'm going to provide a brief list of some of the sessions I think you might be interested in. These sessions cover the topics I've already blogged about, but might give more detail or provide case studies for how to implement the features. Overall though, there are a TON of great sessions planned for Lotusphere 2009 and I just can't highlight them all (much as I would like to!!). You'll just have to go to Lotusphere to learn more!!
JumpStart Sessions:
JMP 102 - IBM Lotus Domino Administrator Quickstart
( a GREAT overview of all the new stuff and more!!)
Show n' Tell Sessions:
SHOW 101 - ID Vault, Roaming and DAOS: Get Ahead of the Curve with IBM Lotus Domino 8.5
(a GREAT session where you can see it all in action!)
Track Three: Planning & Managing Your Collaboration Infrastructure:
ID110 - New Single Sign-On Improvements for your IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Windows Environments
ID202 - Release the Power! Deploying New Features in IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8.5
(this one will go over a GREAT case study about how IBM implemented ID Vault, dynamic policies and Auto-Populated groups together to create an ultimate experience!)
ID203 - IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Server Performance Improvements
ID204 - How to Help Reduce Your Disk Costs Using IBM Lotus Domino 8.5
ID207 - How to Get the Most out of the Lotus Domino and Attachment Object Service
(a session that's near and dear to my heart, Gary and Dave will outline the lovely details of DAOS)
ID209 - Getting the Most Out of Your IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Messaging Servers
ID210 - ID Vault in IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 8.5
(I've blogged about ID Vault, but in this session, David and Gil give you the skinny in detail!)
So there are a few that really caught my eye (sorry - as you can tell, I'm an Admin at heart!!). BUT - Like I said, there are many, many more great sessions lined up, so please take a look at the session abstracts!
Hope to see you at Lotusphere!
So, rather than spoil the surprise, I decided I'm going to provide a brief list of some of the sessions I think you might be interested in. These sessions cover the topics I've already blogged about, but might give more detail or provide case studies for how to implement the features. Overall though, there are a TON of great sessions planned for Lotusphere 2009 and I just can't highlight them all (much as I would like to!!). You'll just have to go to Lotusphere to learn more!!
JumpStart Sessions:
JMP 102 - IBM Lotus Domino Administrator Quickstart
( a GREAT overview of all the new stuff and more!!)
Show n' Tell Sessions:
SHOW 101 - ID Vault, Roaming and DAOS: Get Ahead of the Curve with IBM Lotus Domino 8.5
(a GREAT session where you can see it all in action!)
Track Three: Planning & Managing Your Collaboration Infrastructure:
ID110 - New Single Sign-On Improvements for your IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Windows Environments
ID202 - Release the Power! Deploying New Features in IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8.5
(this one will go over a GREAT case study about how IBM implemented ID Vault, dynamic policies and Auto-Populated groups together to create an ultimate experience!)
ID203 - IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Server Performance Improvements
ID204 - How to Help Reduce Your Disk Costs Using IBM Lotus Domino 8.5
ID207 - How to Get the Most out of the Lotus Domino and Attachment Object Service
(a session that's near and dear to my heart, Gary and Dave will outline the lovely details of DAOS)
ID209 - Getting the Most Out of Your IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 Messaging Servers
ID210 - ID Vault in IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 8.5
(I've blogged about ID Vault, but in this session, David and Gil give you the skinny in detail!)
So there are a few that really caught my eye (sorry - as you can tell, I'm an Admin at heart!!). BUT - Like I said, there are many, many more great sessions lined up, so please take a look at the session abstracts!
Hope to see you at Lotusphere!
Synchronizing Notes Contacts with Blackberry
December 16 2008
As I've been talking to more customers about the features in Notes 8 and 8.5, I've been noticing a feature that is somewhat going overlooked in terms of how powerful it can be to your end users. Then, a recent "Tips and Tricks" email from a colleague prompted me to write this entry (Thanks, Lisa)!
How are you doing Notes personal contact synchronization for your end users?
If you remember, in previous versions of Notes, the way to get personal contacts to synchronize over-the-air with your Blackberry was to have the end-user manually select "Action -> Synchronize Journal" and/or "Action -> Synchronize Contacts" in the menu. This would synchronize the contacts with the mail file (also used for Domino Web Access). Then, your end-users would have to do this regularly in order to get any updates. Most of my customers found this more than a tad bit annoying, and therefore found other "interesting" ways to get contacts to synchronize. Not fun, right?
One work-around that I'm finding more and more people using is the use of Roaming Profiles instead. Now, the use of roaming profiles has its own implication in ND8 (roaming is not supported with the Standard client until 8.5) as well as implications for administration, etc. It's a heck of an undertaking just to get contacts to synchronize!
So...there's a MUCH easier way to do it in ND8!
You may have noticed that in 8.0.2, the menu options mentioned above for "Synchronize Contacts" are gone. Well - they've been replaced by a much better option for your end-users! To enable the new, improved and EASY way of synchronizing your contacts (so you can get over-the-air synch with your BB), just do the following:
1. From the Notes client, select "File -> Preferences" (or other options to get to your preferences, depending on your O/S)
2. Click on the "Contacts" header in the navigation pane on the left to get to your Contacts preferences.
3. Make sure you select the option for "Enable Synchronize Contacts on the Replicator...".
If you switch to your replicator tab, you will see a "Synchronize Contacts" icon added to your replication. Now, when you replicate, your contacts will replicate too! You can even setup a schedule to replicate them on a regular basis!! It's THAT easy! No more manual synchronization tasks for your end users!
Try it out! And, you may make your end-users happier and your life easier!
Clarification NOTE: At this time, this only works for the Contacts - not the Journal. To Synchronize the Journal, you would still have to do it manually or through some other method.
How are you doing Notes personal contact synchronization for your end users?
If you remember, in previous versions of Notes, the way to get personal contacts to synchronize over-the-air with your Blackberry was to have the end-user manually select "Action -> Synchronize Journal" and/or "Action -> Synchronize Contacts" in the menu. This would synchronize the contacts with the mail file (also used for Domino Web Access). Then, your end-users would have to do this regularly in order to get any updates. Most of my customers found this more than a tad bit annoying, and therefore found other "interesting" ways to get contacts to synchronize. Not fun, right?
One work-around that I'm finding more and more people using is the use of Roaming Profiles instead. Now, the use of roaming profiles has its own implication in ND8 (roaming is not supported with the Standard client until 8.5) as well as implications for administration, etc. It's a heck of an undertaking just to get contacts to synchronize!
So...there's a MUCH easier way to do it in ND8!
You may have noticed that in 8.0.2, the menu options mentioned above for "Synchronize Contacts" are gone. Well - they've been replaced by a much better option for your end-users! To enable the new, improved and EASY way of synchronizing your contacts (so you can get over-the-air synch with your BB), just do the following:
1. From the Notes client, select "File -> Preferences" (or other options to get to your preferences, depending on your O/S)
2. Click on the "Contacts" header in the navigation pane on the left to get to your Contacts preferences.
3. Make sure you select the option for "Enable Synchronize Contacts on the Replicator...".
If you switch to your replicator tab, you will see a "Synchronize Contacts" icon added to your replication. Now, when you replicate, your contacts will replicate too! You can even setup a schedule to replicate them on a regular basis!! It's THAT easy! No more manual synchronization tasks for your end users!
Try it out! And, you may make your end-users happier and your life easier!
Clarification NOTE: At this time, this only works for the Contacts - not the Journal. To Synchronize the Journal, you would still have to do it manually or through some other method.
