Subject: Should I got for Lotus Notes?? pls help
I don’t have anything to add on your application specific questions but thought I’d add a couple of cents on the system architecture and network questions.And unfortunately, I don’t have technical experience with some of the solutions I mention but I’ll put them out thier for discussion.
First off – network…
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DSL (even business class) doesn’t typically have a SLA. If it goes down, your provider gets it back up when they can.
I assume that these clinics aren’t under one organization (ACME for example), so each clinic connecting back to a central NOC/Datacenter for ALL access doesn’t come in to play. If this was the case, I’d have to recommend Frame Relay connections. Depending on how you configure them (with your telco provider) they are fast, stable and SLA’s are good.
If the clinics are, for all intents and purposes autonamous units responsible for thier own internet connections, you’ll probably have to live with what you get as far as connections. In practice, I’ve found that working with email (Notes client) over DSL and via the browser, it ususally quite reponsive depending on server loads.
Now for architecture …
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As mentioned in other reply to your post, the idea of servers at each location has advantages. You’ll not be dependent on a central location be up and available. With Notes, any changes made at a local clinic would replicate to the central server on a schedule you set and when communications between servers is available. BUT given you’re looking at 5000 clinics, you’re looking at considerable costs in hardware and licensing (OS and Lotus) at each location.
If you centralize your app you’ll also have upfront costs but may come out better than outfitting 5000 clinics. First off I’d recommend you have redundant paths to your central datacenter. (Different providers coming in to your facility from different locations - to protect against “bubba with a backhoe”).
Given the load your looking at putting on the server, you’ll want to span it across multiple servers. Start with a couple of servers maybe.
You can have the application on each server and either have scheduled replication or possible have the servers in a Domino Cluster (Dom Cluster is almost instanteous in keeping replicas uptodate). If you go with the cluster you can make use of Internet Cluster Manager (Domino Task) and let it load balance between your servers. Otherwise you’ll need to come up with a way of balancing traffic between servers.
Also note that HIPPA regs will require you to secure your app. Domino security is great but you’ll also need to secure your HTTP traffic via SSL. One way to balance traffic and also secure your app would be to utilize a content switch (Cisco makes several) with SSL accelerator. Give your users one address to point HTTPS to and let the content switch handle deciding which server is best situated to handle the connection. It also gives you the ability to pull a server offline for maintinance without affecting incoming connections.
Since you’re in the planning stages, you might also want to consider a Citrix Metaframe solution. We offer a number of applications (web and fat-client) via a browser based, HTTPS connection. Citrix can help balance the app across backend Domino servers and allows YOU to control Internet Explorers settings. I’m sure you’ll agree that end users left to thier own devices will load toolbars, adware and spyware without batting an eye. You’ll also take the local internet cache out of the security picture with this solution.
Ok, that was more like 83 cents but it’s food for thought.
PS - If you don’t already, find a good IBM/Lotus partner and work with them to determine licensing and if you need it, technical help.
Jay/network admin.
