Is there a big problem using doc links (or URL links as they will be) in a domino web application that is replicated across a number of Domino servers?
I have been told that there are issues with this and want to know if there really are and if so, what people have done to resolve this situation.
Let me explain the scenario…
We have a Web based Domino application, accessed exclusively through browsers. The system is used to create, approve and publish information and instructions for customers and as such needs to run on both internal and external facing servers. Documents are created and approved by users on internal servers but the database is then replicated to an external facing server so that customers can read the information. We do not want to allow the customers to access the internal servers and we don’t want internal users to create and approve the documents on the external server.
When the documents are being created they may contain a number of document links to other documents within the system. These could be documents in the same application or other web based Domino applications running on other internal Domino servers. As this is a web based application, these doc links are essentially URL links and I am being told that this is where the problem lies……
When the URL link is added to the document it is set as a specific URL link to the exact document on the specific server on which that document resides when the link was created, i.e. it has a unique and very specific identityand path. When the application is replicated to other servers, this URL link still has the same unique identity and therefore points to the original server so, when the application is replicated to the external facing server, the URL link still points to the document on the internal server. This will mean that customers won’t be able to follow any of the links to other documents in the system as they don’t have access to the internal servers………or at least that is what I am being told.
I can’t get my head around this though because a) I’m not sure if it is even true and b) I always thought the great strength of Domino was Replication, therefore one of the great strengths of Domino based Web applications would be that they could be seamlessly replicated across multiple servers. I therefore would imagine that once a link from one document to another has been created in the application and the application is then replicated to other servers, that these links would just link the user to the relevant documents on the server they are directly accessing, rather than trying to take them over the network to the server on which the document was originally created.
Is this not right???
Surely other organisations must replicated web based Domino applications across multiple Domino servers (either internal, external or both) whilst ensuring that the links in documents take the user to the other documents on that server (assuming the database in which they exist has also been replicated to that server as well).
Any comments regarding whether this is correct or not or instructions as to what needs to be done to enable me to achieve what I want to achieve would be gratefully received.