PLANNING
Servers must connect to each other to exchange data, for example to replicate databases and exchange mail. You can create connections between servers across a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), by using a pass-through server (a server that acts as an intermediary server between a client and its destination), or over the Internet. Create a Server Connection document whenever you need to establish any new or additional server connections. You can modify this document when necessary.
For a calling server to connect to a given destination server, it requires information about how and when to contact the destination server. The information about how to contact the destination server includes the network to use to reach the target server, and, depending on the type of network, the network addresses and other information needed to make the connection.
When a server needs to connect to a destination server on the same HCL Notes® Named Network, the information needed to make the connection is readily available and the connection occurs automatically, without any administrative intervention. However, when two servers do not share a common network, the calling server must be able to obtain this information by some other method. In an HCL Domino® network, administrators create connections documents in the Domino Directory to store information about how to connect to a destination server.
In addition to providing the network information required to contact a destination server, Connection documents can also specify when to contact the destination server. Depending on the type of communications required, a calling server may attempt to establish contact with the remote server immediately, or only at scheduled intervals. For example, a server looking up a name on, or performing cluster replication with a given destination server requires immediate access to a remote server.
On the other hand, to perform tasks such as routing mail or replicating databases, a calling server may require only periodic access to the destination server. When setting up a Connection document for a task that doesn't require immediate access, you can specify when the calling server attempts to make the connection. Network information in a Connection document is used to create the connection to the specified destination server, whether or not the connection is related to a task defined in the schedule part. In other words, a calling server can use the network information in a Connection document to contact a specified destination server when contacting that server for reasons other than mail routing or replication.
Connections between servers -- your connection topology should enable servers to exchange information reliably and efficiently, maximizing the capacity of the physical network, while minimizing connection-related costs.
When creating Connection documents for scheduled operations or to enable contact with a destination server, keep the following factors in mind:
Servers can also use information gathered from an External Domain Network Information (EDNI) document to make a connection. As an administrator, you configure this document to look up names and addresses of servers in another domain, so that users and servers do not require Connection documents to connect to servers in that domain.
From this view, you can:
How a server connects to another server A connecting HCL Domino server uses the following steps to determine how to connect to a destination server.
Replication and server topology As the number of HCL Domino servers on your network increases, so does the amount of replication required to distribute information across the network. Because replication uses memory and processing time, plan how servers connect to perform replication. If you allow servers to replicate at random, so that a given server replicates a single database with multiple servers, or perhaps replicates different databases with different servers, servers can become so overloaded with replication requests that it interferes with their ability to respond to client requests.
Creating a local area network (LAN) connection Create a connection document to schedule mail routing to and replication between servers on a LAN.
Forcing a server connection to use a specific protocol If multiple protocols are available for connecting a source server to a given destination, you can specify which protocol to use by setting the usage priority in a Connection document describing how the source server contacts the destination.
Setting up external domain lookups An HCL Notes user who wants to open a database on a server outside the local HCL Domino domain, can do so only if there is a connection document in either their local Contacts, or in the Domino Directory on their home server that describes how to reach the target server. To enable Notes users to connect more easily to servers outside of their domain, you can create an External Domain Network Information (EDNI) document in the Domino Directory.
Internet connections To enable an HCL Domino server to connect to another server across the Internet, you must establish Internet access with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and register an Internet domain name with the ISP -- for example, renovations.com. After you contract Internet service, create Connection documents to instruct the local Domino servers how to contact the target server.
Pass-through servers and hunt groups Pass-through is a process that runs on a server and establishes connections between the users and servers connected to that server and other servers. Pass-through connections use an intermediary server as a "stepping stone" to connect the two servers.
Planning for modem use For an HCL Domino server to communicate with a remote Domino server by modem you can install one or more modems on the calling and receiving servers, configure the communication port, and create a network dialup connection from the calling server to the receiving server.
Connecting Notes clients to servers After you set up a server to accept inbound connections, it can accept them from both servers and clients. The methods used to establish connections from clients to servers on remote networks are similar to those used when connecting one server to another.
Related concepts How a server connects to another server
Related tasks Scheduling server-to-server replication Setting up external domain lookups