Benefits of load balancing IBM® Notes® and Domino®
The benefits of load balancing IBM Notes and Domino include:
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High Availability (HA) and seamless failover: This is the most critical benefit for a mission-critical platform like Domino. Load balancing ensures that data and mail are always accessible, even during server failures. The Domino Cluster Manager constantly monitors server health. If a user’s primary mail server fails, the Domino client automatically and seamlessly switches to a server containing a replica of that user’s mail file in the cluster. This is transparent to the user, ensuring continuous access to email and applications.
For HTTP/web traffic (like iNotes or application access), a dedicated network load balancer (or the Domino ICM) directs traffic. If one web-facing Domino server fails, the load balancer detects it and routes all subsequent requests to the remaining healthy servers, providing web users with continuous service. - Performance: Domino has built-in mechanisms that work with clustering to prevent any single server from becoming a bottleneck, which is crucial for maintaining consistent application responsiveness. Domino tracks the workload of each server and calculates an Availability Index (AI). When a new connection or request comes in, the server can redirect the user to a less busy server in the cluster. This is often based on the server’s CPU and memory usage, response time, or a defined threshold. By distributing the load, especially during high-peak periods, no single server is allowed to become overloaded and slow down, which ensures that all users experience faster and more consistent application performance.
- Scalability and capacity management: Load balancing allows the Domino environment to grow seamlessly without requiring massive server upgrades. When the user base grows or new applications are deployed, additional Domino servers can be easily added to the cluster. The load balancing system (both internal Domino and external network) automatically incorporates these new servers, distributing the increased load across more resources. You can take an individual Domino server out of the load balancing pool (or cluster) to perform maintenance, upgrades, or patching. Since traffic is automatically diverted to the remaining servers, this can be done without any service downtime for users.
About IBM® Notes® and Domino®
IBM® Notes® and Domino® (formerly IBM Lotus Notes and Domino) invented the groupware and enterprise collaboration market over 20 years ago. Since then, IBM has been a market share leader in providing security-rich messaging and business applications to organizations of all shapes and sizes. In a social-, mobile- and cloud-enabled workplace, IBM continues to innovate, with the new IBM Notes and Domino 9.0.1 Social Edition. Move from email to social email experiences. Create a more effective workforce. Speed adoption of newer tools. Reduce costs.
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