PLANNING
The HCL Domino® mail system has three basic components: Domino mail servers, Domino mail files, and mail clients. The Domino mail server is the backbone of an organization's messaging infrastructure, acting both as an Internet mail server and an HCL Notes® mail server. Domino provides standards-based Internet messaging through its support of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME). At the same time, Domino supports Notes mail through the use of Notes routing protocols -- Notes remote procedure calls (NRPC) -- and the Notes rich text message format.
Domino mail servers provide services that directly and indirectly support messaging. These include specialized databases for locating users and servers, for message storage and transit, and for collecting statistics; and processes that initiate and receive connections between servers, route messages, and allow users to retrieve mail.
Every mail user in a Domino system has a mail file on a Domino mail server. You can create a replica of the mail file on other servers for failover in case the primary server is unavailable. Users create mail messages using a mail client, such as Notes , or a POP3 or IMAP client, and send mail through the Domino mail server, which routes the message to its recipient. The recipient then uses a mail client to read the message. To protect confidential information in mail messages, Domino supports Notes public key encryption and S/MIME encryption.
The Notes client and the Domino mail router (the Router) create and send messages in the format (MIME or Notes rich text) appropriate for each recipient, as determined from the address format and settings in the recipient's Person document. If conversion between formats is necessary, Domino performs the conversion automatically.
The Router uses information in the Domino Directory to determine where to send messages and what transfer protocol to use. For messages sent over SMTP, the Router also uses information from the Domain Name System (DNS).
Domino provides tools for monitoring mail, controlling unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), and preventing unauthorized access to the mail system. To reduce the space needed to store users’ mail, you can set quotas on users’ mail files or restrict users from creating full-text indexes. Domino provides migration tools and message transfer agents to help you move from a heterogeneous system to a Domino mail server, which combines support for Notes mail alongside support for Internet mail standards.
You can also reduce storage space needs by consolidating attachment files through the use of the Domino Object and Attachment Service (DAOS) on the server.
Supported routing, format, and access protocols The HCL Domino server and HCL Notes client support both Internet standards and Notes protocols for message routing, retrieval, and formatting. On the server, the Domino mail router (the router) can send and receive messages using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Notes Remote Procedure Calls (NRPC), or Notes routing. To enable users to retrieve mail, the server supports the Internet access protocols, IMAP and POP3, as well as NRPC.
The Domino mail server and mail routing To process incoming and outgoing mail, HCL Domino mail servers run a variety of server tasks and maintain a number of special databases. Some components are required for all Domino messaging systems; others are needed to support specific configurations only.
How mail routes in a Domino system Mail message routing through the HCL Domino Domino environment is described.
Domino mail files When you create a user account through the HCL Domino registration process, Domino creates an HCL Notes database (NSF file) to serve as the user's personal message store. Each mail file database is created from a mail file template on a Domino server. The server where the mail file resides is known as the user's home server or mail server. Users can access a Domino mail file from a Notes client, a Web browser, a POP3 client or an IMAP client or from multiple types of clients.
Mail clients Various clients are available that enable users to interact with mail files on an HCL Domino server.
Mail security To provide secure message transfer among clients and servers, the HCL Domino mail server supports name and password authentication and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for SMTP mail routing, IMAP, and POP3 access, and supports Notes encryption when routing mail over Notes routing.
Working with other mail systems in your organization HCL Domino interoperates with other mail servers and systems through its support of Internet standards and message transfer agents (MTAs), for example, Microsoft Exchange. Domino can exchange mail with other SMTP servers and route mail to and from Microsoft Exchange and other systems through the MTAs. Additional third-party tools are available to provide interoperability with and gateways to other mail systems.
Mail performance and monitoring HCL Domino offers performance-enhancing features.
The Domino Directory and mail routing The Domino Directory (names.nsf) is the most important database on a server. It defines the primary administrative unit in a Domino network, the Domino domain, which is a group of servers that have the same Domino Directory. The Domino Directory serves as the control center for the domain. Administrators use it to manage users and connect and configure servers and it contains almost all of the essential information required for routing mail.
Overview of routing mail using Notes routing HCL Domino uses Notes Remote Procedure Calls (NRPC) to transfer mail between servers. HCL Notes routing uses information in the Domino Directory to determine where to send mail addressed to a given user. Notes routing moves mail from the sender's mail server to the recipient's mail server.
Overview of routing mail using SMTP HCL Domino uses the HCL Notes routing protocol to transfer mail between servers. You can configure Domino to use SMTP to route mail instead of or in addition to using Notes routing.
The Domain Name System (DNS) and SMTP mail routing The Domain Name System (DNS) is a directory used by SMTP to convert a name, such as renovations.com, to a list of servers that can receive connections for that name and to find the IP address of a specific server. By looking up a destination server's address in the DNS, the sending server can properly route a message to a recipient.
Examples of using multiple MX records You can use a single Internet domain with a single domain name or single Internet domain name with two balanced servers when using multiple mail exchanger records (MX records).
Converting TNEF file attachments to Notes file attachments Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) is a Microsoft standard for tunneling rich data over the Internet to a recipient. Rich data includes Microsoft Rich Text Format (RTF) text, OLE objects, file attachments, and other application data such as Microsoft Outlook calendar data. Microsoft Outlook clients and Microsoft Exchange can be configured to format email for sending to recipients who use Microsoft Outlook. In such a configuration, Microsoft Outlook sends the RTF data as plain text and places all other objects into the TNEF stream, which is usually attached to the email as a file named winmail.dat.
Using shared mail If you previously used shared mail, consider configuring your Domino site to use both the Domino Attachment and Object Service (DAOS) and both types of compression, instead of SCOS.
Related concepts The Domino mail server and mail routing Domino mail files Mail security Mail clients Working with other mail systems in your organization Mail performance and monitoring Configuring Domino to send and receive mail over SMTP Attachment consolidation
Related tasks Setting up the IMAP service Setting up the POP3 service Configuring Domino to send mail to a relay host or firewall
Related reference Supported routing, format, and access protocols The Domino Directory and mail routing Using shared mail