I have a main office of around 50 odd users and a branch office of around 15 users. They are connected via a WAN thru a VPN.
As it stands - the branch office connects to our single Domino server at the main office. What I want to do is install a spoke (?) server at the branch office, with full replicas of the branch office users mail files and a 30day replica of the main office user mail files.
I am hoping this will reduce VPN traffic and give them a bit better response time for their mail, and kind of give a bit of redundancy to our main office users.
So if our main mail server goes down, they can hopefully at least keep working till the issue is resolved.
Would I create another server installation at the branch office ( NOT a primary directory server, am I correct? ) and one connection doc with Main server pull-pushing to Branch server?
I am thinking to create a new copy of branch office users mail files - and then setting a replication sched? Or will the notes routing take place as a matter of course? I dont want smtp to happen through the branch office server - just notes routing.
Also a question about the 30 day replicas…would I create a new copy and then set the rep settings to 30 days? I am wondering about the fact of creating a new copy of say, a 1Gb mail file and then once the copy is made, telling it to keep only 30 days…trying to get my head round creating a full copy and then only whittle it down - no way to just copy a 30 day version?
Sorry for all the questions - I have trawed the knowledge base and help files, I guess I am looking for confirmation that I am on the right track.
I would create the second domino server and use the ADMIN client to move the 15 mail files over there.
If you want to use failover, then make them clustermates, but you’ll see an awful lot of traffic if you do that. That’s just a decision you have to make.
If you don’t make them clustermates, then I’d just set up a frequent rep schedule for the applications they use. And let mail route immediately.
I love having clustered servers for the failover, but it’s unclear to me that this will make your situation good.
regards,
raphael
ps caveat, I’m an application developer, not an admin
many thanks for your reply. Yeah I thought about clustering but the extra traffic would outweigh the bit of redundancy I’d gain for my main office users - when I have the budget, I’d prob try for another server in our main office to provide that.
My rational behind having a small rep of the main office mail files is that my users can keep working if the main server is down, albeit with only the last 30 days worth of mail. I presume it wouldnt be much more difficult than repointing them to the branch office server for mail, and changing the config on the branch office server to route mail externally.
Subject: What do you mean by main office mail files?
Why not keep the branch office user mail files on the branch office server and tne main office users on the main office server. Keep the entire mail file. (You can create backup mail files on each server but they would access the mail file on the server in their own office.)
Then the main office server can be setup to route internet mail. The branch office server would route mail to the internet through the main office server.
Subject: RE: What do you mean by main office mail files?
Hiya Howard,
cheers for your reply.
Well, that’s what I want to do really, have branch office users use their branch server instead of the main one.
I was thinking though, as a nod towards business continuity, that it would be nice to have a copy of the main office users’ mail files at our branch site. But only a 30 day rep of them as I dont have enough disk space on the branch office server to house full copies of all of them.
So - full mail files for the branch users and cut down ones for the main users.
The queries I have are:
Is there a way to shunt the 30 day rep of main users up to branch server without having to copy the entire mail file first? I am concerned about the time and bandwidth used to do that to 50 odd mail files, many over a gig.
And the mail routing between the servers - the main one is currently our only server, as far as I understand, notes will route mail between the 2 servers without being explicitly told to ( the branch users needing their mail to flow from internet and ISP thru main server and up to branch one, and back again).