R6 clients against R8 serer

HCL Domino Domino Forum
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  • We have an R6 server that we’d like to upgrade to R8. I did a forum search for “R8 AND R6” and found lots of questions but few answers. The answer I did find directed me to a redbook about migration. Good information, there.- But The Powers That Be want to keep the R6 clients and use them with the R8 server. I find no information about that scenario, only upgrades to the clients against an R6 server. So:

  1. They are under the impression it will save money to get an R8 server and keep the R6 clients, but is this nuts?

  2. Ultimately they are going web-only with Domino and dispensing with clients. I’m trying to get them to put in R8 now rather than later so I can use it for the web conversion. In that vein I need ammo to convince them to get R8 now knowing the clients will go away later.

  • Thanks for your time…
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Subject: Re: R6 clients against R8 serer

You can run a lower version of a client against a higher version of the server, but:1. You will not have the full functionality of the server (all the new features you will not be able to use with that older client)

  1. You need at least one client at the server version to administer the server and to use for upgrading

  2. You can use one client version when developing applications in a mixed environment - meaning you cannot modify the design of a database with both a 6 and an 8 client

Please review:

Lotus Software Knowledge Base Document

Title: Supported configurations for Notes and Domino 8.0

Doc #: 1264690

URL: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=899&uid=swg21264690

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Subject: Thanks Dale!

  • The first link is a generic list of information about Lotus. I’ve poked around there for some time have found little in the way of “ammo” for a web-only server. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, it means I’m not adept at finding it.- Speaking of finding, I’ve also done dozens of searches against “all ibm” (the world being the only other option) and found nothing relevant. Again I’m sure that means I simply failed to locate it. I find searching IBM to be considerably more fruitless than it could be, which seems to be the norm for any large corporation’s site. Needles and haystacks come to mind.

  • I read the PDF from the second link, and it does indicate what you said, that R6 clients may be put against an R8 server, and in fact that’s the recommended approach … upgrade the server(s) first and the clients later.

  • I’m thinking this R8 server will never have clients against it, and an “Utility Server” may be the best approach. Nothing in anything I’ve read indicates a client is required to administer the server; in fact one page (finally) explicitly said the admin client comes with the server and that’s all that’s required. Perhaps that’s what you meant by “client”? Or perhaps the info is incorrect? I have seen that before. (wink)

  • And licensing looks to be a complex beast that would make any lawyer proud. Some of the licensing options (utility server for example) include a link to pricing, and some (express server for example) do not. Hard to compare per-seat costs for X users if pricing data are simply unavailable for some items.

  • If we do happen to put clients against it, I see no mention what-so-ever if the licenses for the R6 clients will suffice for an R8 server. If we have to buy a whole slew of R8 client licenses I know that will be deal killer … as mentioned the goal is to wean off the clients and onto the web.

  • I also can’t find any information about whether R6 is EOL or not. I would imagine it is because it’s very old, but I’d like to KNOW. I’d think that would be easy to find, but it’s not if one doesn’t already know where to look.

  • Since no data appears to be available, at least in an usable time frame, I’m forced to guess what’s advantageous about R8 and hope for the best. Not a desirable scenario.

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Subject: Re: R6 clients against R8 serer

End of Service (EOS) of Lotus Notes and Domino 6.0.x can be found at this URL:http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=807&context=SS5LUA&q1=End+of+Life+6+Lotus+Notes&uid=swg21221590&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

Please note that is only for 6.0.x and does not include the 6.5.x Lotus Notes clients. I don’t see a document regarding that.