It's simple when you know how
Imagine that you're cruising along happily in your Microsoft universe, when a customer asks you to install Lotus Domino Server for a groupware system. You try in vain to convince the customer to use Microsoft Exchange Server but must finally give in. Then you set out to research installing and administering Domino. You head to the computer store, which has every book imaginable about Microsoft products, but little about Domino. When you do find something, it's about Domino development--not installation and administration. Not having the time or money for official training, you simply install Domino several times until you think you have it right.
This scenario isn't a fantasy--it happened to me. The good news is that the story has a happy ending: Installing and using Domino isn't difficult. Domino might look different from anything you've used, but that's because of the product's multiplatform roots. Now that IBM is pushing Domino to replace cc:Mail sites, in the near future you might frequently hear requests like the one I received.
After my initial adventure installing Domino, I became a Certified Lotus Professional (CLP) in Lotus Notes, and I now know the right way to perform this installation. In this article, I'll share my experience to show you the preferred way to install Domino using Windows NT Server as a platform. You can also install Domino on NT Workstation, Windows 95, OS/400, and other platforms. The easiest way to integrate these systems is to install an NT server that's dedicated to running Notes. I'll show you how to install NT Server to serve as a platform for Domino, then I'll walk you through the Domino installation process. Finally, I'll discuss installing the Lotus Notes client. (I assume you will install only one Domino server. If your organization requires multiple servers,
you need to hire a CLP to perform your installation. Multiple sites greatly increase the complexity of the Domino installation.)
Installing the NT Server Platform
Installing NT Server as a platform for Domino requires the same NT
installation you've performed many times before, but with a few minor
modifications and considerations. Primarily, you need to ensure that you install
the correct protocols to match the network the system will run on. If that
network uses TCP/IP and you can use a dedicated server, the best protocol to use
is pure TCP/IP. If the network is a Novell network using IPX/SPX only, you might
want to install both TCP/IP and NWLink IPX/SPX to accommodate future growth.
Integration with other server systems needs to be minimal. The best
approach is to install the NT system as a standalone server that's not part of
any existing domain, and don't use trusts. The server needs to be as secure as
possible, so that a port scan will recognize it only as a Domino server. It's
not necessary to set up user accounts other than what is necessary to administer
the system. Domino will take care of everything else.
The NT server will use Domino's Web Services, so don't install Internet
Information Server (IIS). If you've already installed IIS, you can change the
port IIS uses from port 80 to a port such as 8080. This configuration lets you
continue to run Web-based administration tools for NT Server if necessary, and
not conflict with Domino's Web server.
After you complete the NT Server installation, you need to choose a name
for the Domino server. This name should not be the same name you've given the NT
server on a TCP/IP system, because if you must subsequently move Domino to
another machine, you need to change the server name in Domain Name System (DNS).
If you install Domino on an IPX/SPX network, you need to use the same name for
the NT server as you use for the Domino server. For an example installation,
I've chosen a domain name of vf.net, a host name for the NT server as winnt1,
and notes1 as the name of the Domino server.
You might be in a situation in which you must use the NT server for
applications other than Domino. That situation is not as much a technical
problem as it is a management concern. I believe that any major service should
have its own server. If you give intensive processes their own servers, they'll
be less likely to interfere with file and print services, which can be
mission-critical to some enterprises. Also, if you must perform maintenance such
as adding memory to a Domino server, you won't have to take down an entire site.
Finally, the lighter the load a server carries, the less likely the server is to
crash, all other things being equal.
If you use DNS or Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) for your TCP/IP
network, you need to reconfigure them. For DNS, add a host (A) record of domino1
to the Domino server's IP address, and a mail exchange (MX) record pointing to
notes1. If the IP address of the Domino server changes, all you need do is
change the host record to point to the new system. For WINS, you can create a
static unique mapping for domino1 to its IP address. You can now ping the server
machine from a client machine.
Your NT server is ready to become a Domino server. Let's install version
4.6a of the Domino software, which is the most current release available.
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