Lotus Domino 7 Monitoring and Maintenance Course

This course covers all aspects of monitoring and maintaining a Domino Server. Domino’s self-monitoring capabilities have expanded with each revision, the latest being Domino Domain Monitoring added to Domino 7.

With this knowledge participants will better understand the recommendations on how to increase server reliability and improve server and database performance.

This course is designed for network/database administrators who are responsible for supporting Lotus Domino Servers and Notes clients.

Upon completion of this course, the participant will be able to:
> Use the Domino Server Log to focus on specific operational areas, adjust various logging levels, apply log filters, and use the Log Analysis tool to identify particular server events over time
> View statistical counters related to server performance and capacity, collect statistics from multiple servers, chart specific statistics in real time, and chart past statistics to get a sense of emerging trends
> Use several methods to view database and server activity including the granular server and database activity data provided by the Activity Trends Collector Server, which can be reported as current observations and historical trends
> Monitor overall server and individual task status and health
> Define Event Generators to keep watch on many aspects of how Domino is running, and define Event Handlers to respond to the events
> Configure Domino Domain Monitoring to automate problem analysis and provide possible solutions and corrective actions to quickly resolve issues
> Start Domino under the Domino Controller and then use the Domino Console to remotely control the server as well as issue operating system shell commands on the remote server computer
> Configure Domino to automatically restart after a crash and how to collect diagnostic files following a crash in a central repository for further analysis
> Perform routine maintenance on the server and to recover from database corruption using various database utilities
> Run server tasks, including database utilities, on a schedule using Program documents
> Determine which anti-virus and backup software packages are available for Domino
> Learn how to use the Server.Load utility to stress a server so that you can monitor its performance as you fine tune its settings, optimize applications, balance workload between servers, optimize the Domino Directory, and enable network compression
> Determine when to upgrade the server hardware and understand which changes affect different aspects of performance
> Decide when to cluster servers to benefit from automatic failover and load balancing
> Configure servers to assume specialized roles, such as mail routing or replication hub, mail, directory, remote office, etc.

Topic 1: Domino Server Log
View the Domino Server Log
Log filters
Logging levels
Keeping the Domino Server Log file small
Exercise: Domino Server Log
Analyze\Log Document tool
Log Analysis tool
Exercise: Log Analysis tool
Write DEBUG messages to text file

Topic 2: Server Statistics
Show Statistic command
Configuration information
Performance statistics
Memory statistics
Disk statistics
Network statistics
Replication statistics
Platform statistics
Reset statistics
Statistics graphical interface
Exercise: Statistics
Collect statistics in Monitoring Results
Exercise: Collect statistics and read reports
Configure Domino Administrator to collect statistics
Exercise: Local statistic collection
Realtime statistics chart
Chart options
Exercise: Realtime statistic chart
Historical chart
Exercise: Historical chart
Windows Performance Monitor

Topic 3: Database and Server Activity
Method 1: Basic database activity
Method 2: Database and user activity in the Domino Server Log
Method 3: Database Catalog
Exercise: Update Database Catalog
Method 4: Activity logging
Exercise: Enable activity logging
Run Analyze\Activity tool
Exercise: Run Analyze\Activity tool
Method 5: Database analysis
Method 6: Activity Trends
Configure Activity Trends

Topic 4: Server Status and Monitoring
Server Status
Server Monitoring
Start monitoring
Change list of servers to monitor
Save server list to profile
Monitoring window
Column sorting
Switch tabs to find details
Two monitoring views
Add tasks to monitor
Add statistics to monitor
Monitoring preferences
Polling time recommendations
Exercise: Server Monitoring
Server Health Monitor
Enable Server Health Monitoring
View health metrics
Recommendations to restore health
Exercise: Server Health Monitoring
 
Topic 5: Event Generators and Handlers
Server tasks
Event Generators overview
Event Generator: Statistics
Recommended replication threshold
Event Handlers overview
Event Handler for a specific Statistics event
Pre-configured generic Event Handler
Topic 6: Non-Statistics Events
Event Generator: Database
Exercise: Monitor ACL changes
Exercise: Monitor replication failure
Event Generator: Domino Server Response
Event Generator: Mail Routing
Event Generator: Task Status
Event Generator: TCP Server Response
Handling events and simple events by type and severity
Create generic Event Handler by event type and severity
Monitoring Configuration Setup Wizards
Server Monitoring Configuration Troubleshooting Wizard
Create Event Handler from Remote Server Console
Create Event Handler from Domino Server Log

Topic 7: Domino Domain Monitoring
Review of Event Generator probes
DDM objectives
Compatibility and platforms
Key elements of DDM
Probe areas
DDM probe views
Create DDM probe
Exercise: Define DDM probes
Scheduled probes chart
Probe results in the Domino Domain Monitor database
Domino Domain Monitor ACL
Domino Domain Monitor interface
DDM Event document
Exercise: Read DDM events
Manually run a DDM probe
DDM Server Collection Hierarchy
Create a DDM Server Collection Hierarchy
DDM replication
DDM data collection failure
DDM Filters
Tivoli Enterprise Console Server settings

Topic 8: Domino Controller and Console
Advantages of the Domino Console
Advantages of the Domino Controller
Installation and configuration
Operate the Domino Controller and Console
Commands
Issue command to multiple servers
Periodic commands
Server access fields
 
Topic 9: Server Recovery and Diagnostic Collection
Automatic Server Recovery
Caveats
Configure Automatic Server Recovery and diagnostic collection
Diagnostic collection
What to do with diagnostic files
Third-party recovery tools

Topic 10: Server and Database Maintenance
Recommended maintenance schedule
Corrupt documents
Database utilities
FIXUP
FIXUP NOTES.INI options
Corrupt view indexes
UPDALL
UPDALL logging options
COMPACT
If all else fails
Indirect (.IND) and < files
Program documents
Exercise: Run FIXUP from a Program document
System-level maintenance
Anti-virus software
Server backup options
Backup software
What directories to back up
Open files
Exit a Server automatically
Backup frequency
Restore a deleted document

Topic 11: Server and Database Performance
Server.Load utility
Interpret Server.Load results
Performance-enhancing options
Option 1: Server performance tuning
Option 2: Application performance tuning
Option 3: Server workload balancing
Option 4: Domino Directory optimization
Option 5: Network compression
Option 6: Hardware upgrade
Option 7: Server clustering
Option 8: Dedicated Domino Servers
Performance resources

This course assumes that participants have:
> Extensive experience using Notes 7
> Experience using Domino Administrator 7 to manage Domino servers
> Mastered the Topics covered in Lotus Domino 7 Administration Basics
 
Participant will find the course especially rewarding if they have already installed a Domino Server and a handful of Notes clients and have had some experience designing Domino databases.