Posts tagged: daos

Running DAOS on Domino 8.5.1?  If so, then you need to know about this fixpack:

Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1 Interim Fix 1 (8.5.1 FP1 IF1) – DAOS Fixes

Abstract
A series of DAOS (Domino Attachment and Object Service) issues have been identified and fixed by IBM. We recommend any customer running DAOS to apply this interim fix or release that addresses these issues. Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1 Interim Fix 1 is available that addresses these DAOS issues.
 
Content
A series of DAOS (Domino Attachment and Object Service) issues have been identified and fixed by IBM. We recommend that any customer running DAOS apply this interim fix or a later release that addresses these issues. Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1 Interim Fix 1 is available to address these DAOS issues.
The package can be downloaded from Fix Central:

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

8.5.1 FP1 customers can download and install Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1 Interim Fix 1 to receive the DAOS fixes before 8.5.1 FP2 is available. Customers already running with a Domino hotfix for issues not listed below should open a PMR to have a combination hotfix built. The hotfix would be on Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1, because that is a prerequisite baseline due to other DAOS content in that Fix Pack. The following table lists the hotfix versions per platform for this interim fix.

Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 1 Interim Fix 1 (8.5.1 FP1 IF1) – DAOS Fixes
Platform        Hotfix #
Windows – Domino 32 Bit        851FP1HF41
Windows – Domino 64Bit        851FP1HF45
Unix (AIX) – Domino 32 Bit        851FP1HF42
Unix (AIX) – Domino 64Bit        851FP1HF44
Unix (Solaris)        851FP1HF43
IBM i V5R4        L502818
IBM i V6R1         L602824
RHEL and SLES        851FP1HF46

The fixes in this Interim Fix will be included in the upcoming Domino 8.5.1 Fix Pack 2 and Domino 8.5.2 release.

This Interim fix addresses the following SPR’s:

SPR         Description
JGIR7ZH7J2         Performance issue with DAOS Prune
JGIR7ZHW5S         Error: The DAOS catalog cannot be resynchronized after a synchronization
WSCN7ZS4HJ         Error: Log File Full after a synchronization
DROO7YXTC3         Fix for DAOS missing report to consult the daoscat.nsf
WSCN7YJHRH        Rebuild issue with daoscat.nsf and daos.cfg
RAGG7W5HBF        Error: Document attachment is invalid trying to send encrypted mail
JPMS7TXJXM         Error: GeneratePathArray. PANIC: LookupHandle: handle out of range
DROO7XBS9B         Error: Log file is Full errors when compacting a database into DAOS
DROO7YANZ6        Opening an object in a DAOS enabled database returns the error “array index out of bounds”
DROO7ZNPZ8         QUICK mode for DAOS Resync

These fixes are also included in upcoming 8.5.1 Fix Pack 2 and 8.5.2.

Check this link for status on fix pack / maintenance release availability: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/r5fixlist.nsf/%28Progress%29/851%20FP2

The technote that many have been waiting for:

Question
How do I do back up and restore data on a Domino system that uses DAOS?

From the restore tests that I’ve conducted with customers, it really isn’t as scary as it appears.  The only scenario that I have found tricky is to the common practice of retrieving a DB to a local client to then selectively copy/paste documents back into the original DB.  I’ll elaborate on how to deal with this (when not using TSM) tomorrow.  However, for now, check out the technote…

More >
 

Most of the readers of this blog will be aware of DAOS by now – the new Domino Attachment and Object Service implemented in Domino 8.5.0 and above.  One whitepaper describes DAOS as:

With the release of version 8.5, IBM Lotus Domino server employs the Domino attachment and object service to save significant space at the file level by sharing data identified as identical between databases (applications) on the same server. Document attachments are the first components to use the DAOS feature in Lotus Domino.

In databases that use DAOS, Lotus Domino no longer saves a separate and complete copy of every document attachment. Instead, the server saves a reference to each attached file in an internal repository, and it refers to the same file from multiple documents in one or more databases on the same server. When an attached file is large and a message containing it is broadcast to thousands of users, creating a separate copy of the message for each recipient could require several gigabytes of disk space. Multiple copies of the same attachment often also proliferated in mail threads with multiple replies. With DAOS enabled, disk space usage is substantially reduced.

It is easy to see how this new service can make a massive difference to mail server disk use – each mail attachment is only saved once rather than in every mail database it is added to.  

In our real world experience of implementing DAOS for customers, it typically saves 30-50% of disk space on a medium-to-large Domino mail server.  In addition, of the disk storage still used by mail, approximately half is shifted from the Domino databases themselves (the NSFs) into the DAOS store (effectively a flat filesystem containing encrypted and renamed copies of the attachments).  That means that the actual size of the Domino data mail directory has been reduced by 65-75% – say from 1TB to 300GB, adding knock on benefits such as significantly faster backup/restore times, reduced load due to full-text indexing and view updates and much lower disk I/O bandwidth requirements.  DAOS really is a no-brainer for any mail-server being upgraded or migrated to Domino 8.5! (Please note that this doesn’t indicate that the process is without its gotchas or areas requiring careful consideration – always consider calling in your trusted Lotus partner to offer assistance and best practices planning and design).

However, the reason for this post is to reiterate that DAOS is not just for using on mail servers – it works with attachments in any Domino server-based NSF database.  Therefore, if you have large Domino/Notes applications that include attachments, DAOS can make a significant impact on the size of the database(s) and therefore on the performance of the application and the server(s) they run on.  

We’ve just seen a great example of this at an insurance company, where they have an customer and claims management application that has recently been upgraded from Domino 6.5 to 8.5.  Storing many images and scanned documents relating to traffic accidents, building damage etc, this application had one single database that was 32GB in size (after a regular compact task had been completed).

After upgrading the servers hosting the database to Domino 8.5, enabling document and design compression, upgrading to the latest ODS and enabling DAOS, this single NSF database has shrunk to 7GB in size.  A 78% improvement!  You can imagine what a massive impact this will have on the vitality of the application and the server hosting it.  Multiply that by the many distributed servers running this app, and the customer has realised a significant improvement from completing the upgrade.

So, if you’re currently considering whether you should upgrade to Domino 8.5, and in turn whether to enable DAOS on all your servers, hopefully this will convince you to complete the upgrade sooner rather than later.