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Five Domino domain default server settings you should change and
why
Andy Pedisich
11.13.2008
Rating: -3.52- (out of 5)
Lotus Notes and Domino tips, tutorials and how- to articles

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Just because you don't immediately notice a default setting on your Domino server,
doesn't mean there isn't one. I once asked a Lotus Domino system administrator
what the default setting was for disconnecting an idle user from a Domino server. He
replied, "There is no default setting." This is incorrect; there are defaults for all
settings, regardless of whether they're apparent or hidden.

Some default settings, however, can be completely incorrect for your Domino
domain. Here are five of my least-favorite default settings and why changing them
can improve Domino server performance, tighten security and help you monitor your
Domino domain.

1. Default idle user disconnect time is four hours

By default, an idle Lotus Notes user will remain connected to your Domino server for
four hours. Keep in mind that idle users are taking up valuable resources, without
doing anything. I have been using a 30-minute idle time disconnect for many years
without any problems. IBM's article, How the notes.ini file parameter affects server
performance, explains why it's good practice to use this parameter.

You'll want to set Notes.ini parameter on your servers so that it looks like this:

Server_session_timeout = 30

Tip: It's best to use server configuration documents to control these settings.

If you stick with your default setting of four hours, it makes it really hard to get a
reading on the number of concurrent users.

2. Message Recall defaults to on

If you've upgraded to Lotus Notes R8 and haven't explicitly turned off Message
Recall, it's on by default.

By default, Lotus Notes 8 users can recall mail that they've sent up to 14 days ago,
as long as it hasn't been read yet. Recalling a message that has been in someone's
mail file for 14 days could create some issues.

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Five Domino domain default server settings you should change and why Page 2 of 5

If you want to turn off Message Recall or change the number of days that a sent
message can be recalled, there are a few options. You can create a server
configuration document, edit the default one, or edit each server configuration
document. Whichever option you decide to use, go to the Message Recall tab on the
Router/SMTP tab to take control.

If you have no server configuration documents, then Message Recall is automatically

on and set for 14 days.

3. Insecure storage of Internet passwords is on

Check your Domino domain's directory profile by going to Actions -> Edit Directory
Profile.

If "Use more secure Internet Passwords" is set to "No," then a clever hacker could
run a dictionary attack against your address book to obtain address book content.

If your HTTP password looks like the one below -- with all capital letters and numbers
-- then you've got a problem.

Domino & Lotus Notes Security Solutions:

Authentication, Antispam, Encryption and Antivirus

Use the menu options Actions -> Upgrade to More Secure Internet Password to fix
existing person docs.

4. The default number of cluster replicators is set to '1'

Clustered servers only use a single cluster

replicator by default. Cluster replication is an Related resources from
event-driven process. When changes occur SearchDomino.com:
on one Domino server in a cluster, the
changes are pushed to the other servers as Log off idle Lotus Notes users for
well. If many changes occur, cluster
better Domino Server performance
replication can fall behind. If there is a failover
while the databases are out of sync, users will
call help desk to ask, "Where are all the Copy Lotus Notes databases from
meetings I arranged this morning?" or "The the Domino Server console
mail I sent this morning isn't in my Sent command line
folder."
Notes.ini and mail.boxes

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Five Domino domain default server settings you should change and why Page 3 of 5

Adding another cluster replicator using the transaction logging -- a cautionary

above parameter will help avoid this. Your tale
clustered servers will run with two cluster
replicators if you add this parameter to the
Notes.ini file of the clustered servers:

Cluster_Replicators = 2

You can tell if you still need more by looking at the statistic
Replica.Cluster.SecondsOnQueue, which should generally show a time under 15
seconds when the server has a light load. It should be under 30 seconds when the
server is operating with a heavy load. Be sure to look at the
Replica.Cluster.SecondsOnQueue.Avg and
Replica.Cluster.SecondsOnQueue.Max statistics to get a better feel for whether or
not everything is in sync.

5. Change Domino server console colors

This last one is one of those personal things that I've picked up in the last decade of
working with the Domino server. To make things easier, change the default colors of
your console so that you can see what's going on in one quick glance. Here's what I
use on every Domino server I monitor:

Green is good; red is bad. The white-on-black color theme seems old fashioned.
Ditch it for a color scheme that's simple to read and will easily tell you what's
happening with your Domino servers.

Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.

Please let others know how useful it is via the rating scale below. Do you have a
useful Lotus Notes/Domino tip or code snippet to share? Submit it to our monthly tip
contest and you could win a prize.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andy Pedisich
Andy Pedisich is President of Technotics, Inc. He has been working with Lotus
Notes and Domino since Release 2. Technotics provides strategic consulting and
training on collaborative infrastructure projects for customers throughout the world.
You can contact Technotics through their Web site at www.technotics.com.

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