Microsoft KB Archive/200793

= XFOR: Load Balancing Mail and Directory Synchronization with Exchange Notes Connector =

Article ID: 200793

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q200793



SUMMARY
This article provides information about how load balancing and directory synchronization work with the Microsoft Exchange Connector for Lotus Notes.



Load Balancing
Load balancing is a method that you can use to maintain peak performance levels if your message traffic through the Exchange Notes Connector is high. You can implement load balancing by installing multiple Exchange Notes Connectors in the same sites. You can also use the Exchange Server route costing facilities to determine which messages are routed through each Exchange Notes Connector. Also note that load balancing operates in one direction only: from Exchange Server to Notes. Notes does not have a comparable feature on its site, so you cannot perform load balancing for traffic that is coming from the opposite direction.

If you use multiple Exchange Notes Connectors for load balancing, the Notes server determines the route to fall back on from the Notes user's sender address, which indicates a path back to the Exchange Server computer. This does not eliminate all manual routing tasks, but it does simplify them. You also can configure multiple Exchange Notes Connectors, one for inbound and one for outbound, for load-balancing purposes. However, if you do this, replies typically return over the same Exchange Notes Connector that they came from in either direction. One alternative to this is to configure one Exchange Notes Connector specifically going outbound for original messages in either direction.

The Exchange Notes Connector handles potential back ups or log jams in a message transfer agent (MTA) environment by immediately enacting a performance step-down as soon as you introduce any kind of content conversion. This is why you need to understand the load that the Internet Mail Service, for example, can generate. Multiple Exchange Notes Connectors cannot service that type of backlog. Another way to maintain performance is to piggyback several disconnected Notes domains through an Exchange Server backbone. This approach ensures that Notes users in Los Angeles do not communicate directly to Notes users in New York, for example. If you use Exchange Notes Connectors at either end of an Exchange Server backbone instead, you can use the Exchange Server messaging infrastructure to connect Notes users, even to each other.

You can set up two Exchange Notes Connectors, one for mail only and another for directory synchronization. To do this you need two bridgehead servers on both the Notes side and the Exchange Server side. One pair handles mail; the other pair handles directory synchronization. You need proper replication in each environment, so that all Exchange Server users can view all the users in the global address list and all Notes users can view all the users in the Notes Address Book. This ensures that when directory synchronization takes place, more bandwidth is available and mail flow is not severely impacted.

Directory Synchronization
The Exchange Notes Connector supports bi-directional directory synchronization with full-load or delta options. You can perform a full load or reload of the property page by using delta options. A full load pulls an entire directory from your Exchange Server or Notes site and a reload merely requests updates from either system. The default configuration in the current Exchange Notes Connector release provides the most commonly used attributes; more attributes may be added in subsequent releases.

The current Exchange Notes Connector release also supports multiple Notes containers, name books, and address books. In many Notes configurations, particularly those that involve complex directory scenarios, users keep name books and address books separate. The extensive customization capabilities of the Exchange Notes Connector, which provide granular control of the books' presentation, allow users to keep name books and address books separate. The Exchange Notes Connector also supports Notes groups and Exchange Server distribution lists, and includes some filtering capabilities. For example, you can exclude selected Notes groups, prohibit selected groups from being moved into Exchange Server distribution lists, and determine which custom recipients are to be included in these lists.

Additional query words: GAL dirsync

Keywords: kbinfo KB200793

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