The session that wont be at Lotusphere 11: How to graduate from Padawan Administrator to Domino Jedi Master
Mat Newman December 4 2010 00:42:08
The presentation I really, REALLY, wanted to do at Lotusphere 2011 didn't get accepted, but there's no reason that I should keep from sharing it with the Yellowverse.How to graduate from Padawan Administrator to Domino Jedi Master.
ABSTRACT:
Whether you are an experienced Administrator, or new to the game, here are the principals that are essential to master the Domino System. 15 years of experience in Domino administration, assistance and education summarised in 10 simple rules that will help you keep your Domino environment happy and healthy and your users communicating and collaborating.
INTRODUCTION:
I have always found it a lot harder to put all of the thoughts, feeling and emphasis into a written presentation than it is to do it live and 'in person'. However, over the next few weeks (time and motivation notwithstanding) I am going to attempt to blog this session so that the content will be available to anyone who's aspiring to claim the dizzy heights of Domino Administrator. Why?
- Because I'm a great guy (self-deprecating-humour), and
- Like I said earlier this year, it's time to lift my game and SHARE with the Yellowverse
PREFACE:
In 15 years as a professional Lotus - I mean Notes/Domino here - consultant (and wanna-be loti), I've dealt with literally thousands of administrators in literally hundreds of Domino environments, and I can (unfortunately) count on two hands and feet the number of systems that I've reviewed that truly impress me. Not that I'm a 'snob' or 'know-it-all', just that there have been so FEW Domino systems that I've interacted with and thought: 'Yep, this guy knows what he's doing' (nb: guy is generic - I would love to have met more 'nerd-girls', but they just haven't existed in my part of the world).
Along the way I have found a hand-full - and unfortunately, only a hand-full - of sites where I have been able to take away real-life, in-place, FUNCTIONAL best-practice and been able to apply those concepts to other clients. Yes, a consultant visiting an awesome site can learn a thing-or-two as well!
So here it is: 15 years of Domino Administration, Assistance and education summarised in 10 simple rules.
Part 1: BACKGROUND:
Before we begin it's important to understand that, as much as we in the Yellowverse love it, Notes/Domino is Software.
Yes, just plain old Software!
Which means it needs a foundation, an OPERATING SYSTEM, on which it can run, which enables it (the SOFTWARE) to interact with the underlying HARDWARE.
Without an Operating System, Notes and Domino is nothing, just like the 'next best thing' from Micro$oft - it would be 'vapour-ware'. Thankfully with Notes/Domino you also have the choice of Linux, Unix, OSX, OS400, RS600, etc, etc, not just Windows (my, am I showing my age... a-Hem, OK - iOS, zOS, etc), meaning the vapour-ware is less likely to 'evaporate'!!!
So here is a simple diagram to get us going: remember this diagram - every lesson from here on relies upon it:
Figure 1: The Notes/Domino place in the system
Commit the proceeding diagram to memory - I'll be writing about it a LOT.
As you can see, Domino runs in the Software layer of an OPERATING SYSTEM that interacts with (and provides a conduit to) the HARDWARE available to that OPERATING SYSTEM.
So, in summary, Domino needs an OS to provide it with 4 (FOUR) things: CPU, MEMORY, NETWORKING and DISK.
This is fundamentally no different between Notes and Domino. One of may favourite mantras in an Admin class has always been that "the only difference between Notes and Domino is nserver.exe, kittype in Notes.ini, approximately 76 .dll's and a GUI!".
What ... don't believe me? open a command line, navigate to your NOTES PROGRAM directory, and type ncompact. See what happens. If it doesn't look like a server console window, I'll go heave!
(Windows 7/Vista. Start -> Command Prompt -> cd progra~1\ibm\lotus\notes -> ncompact)
Yes, OK. We've now confirmed that a Notes Client is capable of running the same command-line interface as a Domino Server, but so what!
Well ... it's all about foundations my young Padawan, and understanding the foundations is the first step to becoming a Domino Jedi Master...
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