IBM Software Group

Replication and clustering for high availability

for IBM Lotus Domino on i5/OS

2008 IBM Corporation

This education series consists of three modules that cover backup and recovery strategies
for a Lotus Domino implementation on i5/OS. This second module focuses on using
replication and clustering for high availability.

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Illustration of Domino replication

Automatic replication
of changed data only.
Databases contain
the same information.

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In this illustration, there are two Domino servers (Domino01 and Domino02) with the
admin mail file on both servers. Domino replication sends the changes between the
servers so that both databases contain the same information. This example is used in
more detail throughout this presentation.

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Comparison of replication and clustering

Domino replication
Maintains identical copies of databases on two Domino server
instances
May be on same or different server or platform
Scheduled
Provides warm standby
Domino clustering
Maintains identical copies of databases on two Domino server
instances
May be on same or different server or platform
Automatic, real-time replication
Provides hot standby (load balancing and automatic failover for Notes
clients)

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Domino replication maintains identical copies of a database on two Domino servers.

These servers may or may not be on the same physical hardware. Replication can be
scheduled to occur automatically. It can provide a warm standby for the server.
Clustering provides real-time replication or a hot standby. It is typically used for load
balancing and automatic failover for Lotus Notes clients.

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What is Domino clustering?

A Domino cluster is a collection of two to six Domino servers which
provides high availability and workload balancing.

How does it work?

Two or more servers are selected to be in a cluster (up to six servers)
Each servers contain replica databases of the applications which are
to be clustered
If user accesses a clustered server and it is not available, Notes
opens a replica of the database on a different cluster server.
Domino continuously synchronizes databases

Clustered
Servers

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A Domino cluster is a collection of two to six Domino servers, which can provide high
availability or load balancing for your users. When dealing with a cluster, each server will
contain its own replica copy of the clustered database or application. The Domino servers
will continuously synchronize the databases.

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Requirements to deploy clustering

Domino version 6, 7 or 8 with Enterprise Service License
Connection to a high speed network using TCP/IP
Adequate disk space for replica databases
Adequate processor resources to handle additional replication
requirements (20% increase)
Domino clustering is not hardware clustering, it is application clustering
All servers in a cluster must be in the same Domino domain and share a
common Domino Directory.
A server can be a member of only one cluster at a time.

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You must purchase a Domino Enterprise Service License to configure clustering in your
environment. You will also need a high-speed network connection using TCPIP between
the clustered servers. You must ensure that you have adequate disk and processor
resources to handle the extra workload that clustering requires. Note that Domino
clustering is application clustering and not hardware clustering. Also, note that the
clustered servers must share the same Domino directory. Finally, a Domino server can
only be a member of one cluster.

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Setting up Domino clustering

Specify which servers you want add or remove from a cluster
 Configuration -> Cluster

 Create replica database on other server (if they do not already exist)
 Add Cluster Replicator and Cluster Database Directory server tasks to notes.ini of
both clustered servers
ServerTasks=Replica,Router,...,Event,CLDBDIR,CLREPL
 Restart Domino servers
 Manually replicate cldbdir.nsf between cluster servers
 Restart Domino servers again
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You can configure a new cluster from the Configuration tab of the Domino Administrator
client. From there, you can select to add a server to a cluster. This process adds the
cluster database directory (cldbdir) task and the cluster replicator (clrepl) tasks to the
server. The process will also create a cldbdir.nsf database, which you must replicate to
the other servers in the cluster. Note that only databases where replica copies exist on
both servers will have failover capabilities in the new cluster. To ease the cluster setup, it
is a good idea to create replica databases on the other server before creating the cluster.

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Setting up Domino clustering (continued)

Open the Cluster Database Directory (cldbdir.nsf) on the clustered servers
 Configuration > Cluster > Cluster Directory(6)
 Manage your replica copies and choose which databases to cluster

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After you configure your cluster, you will then specify which databases to cluster. Perform
this step by opening and editing the cldbdir.nsf database. Automatically clustered are
databases that have a replica on the other server - meaning they contain the same replica
ID on both servers.

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What really happens with clustering

Replication on steroids
When new mail is received it replicates it real-time to the replica copy in the
Domino cluster
Replication synchronizes database replica copies within the cluster
Server > Status > Server Console > Live

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In a cluster, the server sends database changes to the other server.

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Replication and clustering as a backup strategy

Advantages
Free with Domino (if you purchase an Enterprise license)
Does not require iSeries skills
Provides fault tolerance
No media to manage
No downtime

Disadvantages
Requires additional disk space
less than double if indexes are not maintained
Accidental deletions are propagated (No recovery for deleted documents)
No history or point-in-time recovery

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You should consider the advantages and disadvantages of using replication or clustering
as a backup strategy. If you already purchased an enterprise service license for Domino,
you do not need to purchase any additional software. You will also always have a hot
backup available. The disadvantage is that you need double the disk space if you want to
cluster all files. Also, deletions propagate. Thus, you should not use replication and
clustering as the exclusive backup for your environment.

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Replicating using the SAVE command

Primary server Backup or clustered server

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Using replication or clustering with the i5/OS Command Language (CL) SAVE commands
is an attractive option for some. In this way, because there is always a warm backup
available, you will not need to take the primary server down for backups.
.

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Replication and SAVE commands

Primary server

Issue
SAVE
Command

Backup Media

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When using replication with the SAVE commands, you will first replicate all of the
databases, and then end the secondary server to perform the backup.

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Replication and clustering with CL SAVEs

Advantages
No additional software
No downtime
Faster backups
Fault tolerance
Deleted documents are recoverable

Disadvantages
Requires additional disk space
Less than double if indexes are not maintained
No point-in-time recovery
Incremental and differential backups of little use
All backups are essentially "full" backups
Lots of storage

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Here are some immediate benefits of using replication and clustering with i5/OS CL SAVE
commands. It requires no additional software, no downtime of the primary server and
deleted documents are recoverable. The disadvantages include the fact that it requires
additional disk space and there is no option for incremental saves or point in time
recovery.

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Scenario: Documents accidentally deleted

Server Domino01

Documents are
Notes client accidentally
deleted on
server
Domino01s
replica
Server Domino02

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When you have replica databases in your environment, you must take special care when
recovering a database. Here is an example to help you understand what can happen.
Assume that the admin database has replica copies Domino01, Domino02 and their Lotus
Notes client. The user accidentally deletes some documents from the copy on Domino01.

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Replication occurs and deletions propagate

Server Domino01
Database on server
Domino01 replicates to
server Domino02 and
Notes client
Notes client

Server Domino02

Documents (deletions) are

propagated to replicas and
have current timestamp and
sequence number
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Since the administrator configured replication to occur automatically, the deletions

replicate to the other database copies. Now the documents have been deleted from all
three copies of the database.

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Database is recovered from backup

Server Domino01

Notes client

Server Domino02

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The administrator has been notified that the documents have been deleted and the
database has been restored from backup to server Domino01.

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Deletions replicate to recovered database

Server Domino01
Timestamp and sequence number on replicas
are newer than those on the recovered
database. The deletions are replicated" back to
recovered database.

Notes client
Server Domino01

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Because the timestamp and sequence number of the deletion is newer than the
documents in the recovered database, the documents are again deleted from the
database on Domino01.

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Solution #1: Change replica ID

If you cannot be certain that a replica exists which can overwrite the
recovered database, change the replica ID
File > Database > New Copy
ANTRID utility
Go to http://www.ibm.com/software/lotus/support and search on
"ANTRID
Download from http://www.rprsystems.com/index.php
You must distribute new replicas
Beware if a system database is involved (such as names.nsf)
Note: Purging deletion stubs may be an option if you discover the
problem before the database replicates. See technote 1095683 for
details at http://www.ibm.com/software/lotus/support/

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One option to resolve this problem is to change the replica ID of the recovered database.
You can download a utility to update the replica ID. However, this will break replication
because you must create new replicas on Domino02 and the Lotus Notes client. Thus, be
aware if a system database like names.nsf is involved. Names.nsf must replicate between
all servers in the Domino domain. If you change the replica ID of names.nsf or another
system database, you must place a new replica copy of names.nsf on all other Domino
servers in the domain. One thing to note is that if you discover the deletions before
replication occurs, it is possible to purge the deletion stubs from the affected database. In
this situation, you can follow the instructions in technote 1095683.

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Solution #2: Create database restore server

Put the database on a

different server that does
not replicate with any of the
production mail servers

A different restore server for

every Domino iSeries system
(or LPAR)
Directories for each server on the
system

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Another option to resolve this problem is to have a database restore server. The purpose
of a restore server is to have a place to restore Domino databases where replication is not
scheduled to occur. When you use a database restore server, you must open the
database on the restore server and then paste the missing documents into replica copies
of the database. You can then let the regularly scheduled replication put the documents
back on the other server and Lotus Notes client. In this example, a backup Domino server
called Backup exists. On this server, a subdirectory for each server is used as a
temporary holding place for restored databases.

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Considerations
If a replica of a database to be recovered exists on another
server:
If replicas are OK, restore database and allow replication to bring
recovered database up to date
If corruption or deletion has been propagated to replicas, they must be
recovered also or "bad" data will ruin the recovered database.
If a database is replicated to Notes or iNotes client, replicas on
clients must be deleted or replica ID must be changed if client has
delete authority.

Restoring a clustered database to an alternate server allows

database to be manipulated without risk of replication (works
for only full backups)

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In summary, care must be made when a replicated database is recovered from backup. If
you have removed the database from the server where the documents were incorrectly
modified or deleted, but the change had not replicated to the remote server you can
restore the database to the server where the problem existed and allow Notes replication
to run with no further action. However, if the deletions or problem with the database has
already replicated to other servers you need to restore the database on both the original
server and the cluster or replica server. If you do not do this, the recovered database will
be damaged. This same thought process exists for clients that have a replica databases.
If the client replica does not contain the problem, no action is needed when the server
copy is restored to the server. If the client replica is also damaged or missing documents,
a new client replica must be created to protect the server copy from getting the newest
changes back into the database. Finally, if you are going to restore the database to a
database restore server or another server that does not replicate, you can open the
restored database, copy and paste documents from it without having to consider how it
will affect your other replica databases.

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Template Revision: 7/18/2005 4:30 PM

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