New Notes/Domino delivers

Release 5 of Lotus' Notes/ Domino, which Lotus finally made available on its Web site last week, is more robust and scalable, and adheres to more open standards than previous versions. It serves many purposes, from secure Web transaction server to main knowledge management tool for large enterprises.

That's the good news, based on our evaluation of the feature-frozen gold candidate code. The bad news is that the inherent complexity of managing the Cadillac of messaging, groupware and Web development platforms is only slightly improved with the addition of a new administration client. Enterprise Notes administrators will have their hands full evaluating and migrating to Release 5.

In Release 5, Notes is the client application and Domino is the server software. The Domino server now comes in three flavors: Mail, Application and Enterprise. The Mail server is for messaging only and handles native Notes, Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4). The Application server includes groupware and Web development features and messaging. The Enterprise server has all the above features and adds application clustering, which enables Notes databases to be dynamically hosted on multiple servers for load balancing and fault tolerance.

The complexity of configuring a Domino server is entirely dependent on the environment in which it is being placed. For instance, setting up a single-workgroup Notes server for native Notes messaging is a simple endeavor. A wizard guides you through all the basics. However, for multiserver enterprise deployment, Release 5 requires capacity planning, topology considerations and extensive Notes application migration and testing.

One of Domino's strongest suits is that it allows administrators to choose supported protocols. The Domino Administrator makes it relatively easy to enable protocols such as HTTP. Domino seamlessly opens up its data to non-Notes clients without retooling the entire infrastructure.

Domino's support of open e-mail standards is also a big plus. Through the Administrator, we enabled POP3 and accessed the Domino server via Outlook Express. Administrators looking for the power of Domino on the back end, but who want to keep the user experience simple, have a worthy alternative here.

As with Domino servers, Notes clients now come in three flavors: Administrator, Designer and Notes.

In previous Domino versions, the server was administered through specialized commands from the Notes client. Release 5's Administrator is a specialized client with many new features to help manage the Notes/Domino infrastructure. The Administrator can build a Domino server topology map on the fly. You can use this to analyze database replication schemes or to trace a single e-mail message as it moves between Domino servers. Managers of large Domino shops will especially like these features for tracking down glitches in routing topology.

You can also perform day-to-day tasks, such as user and group management, through the Administrator client. The new interface organizes reams of data and content into a manageable presentation. You can manage several Domino Directories (the databases formerly known as the Notes Name and Address book) using a straightforward hierarchy view, much like Windows.

You can also manage the multitude of server tasks and protocols through the Administrator or via the extant NOTES.INI file. Besides HTTP, Network News Transfer Protocol, POP3 and IMAP4, all of which were supported in Release 4, Release 5 supports Version 3 of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Release 4 only supported LDAP Version 2, which was limiting. LDAP 2 provides read-only access to a subset of user information, while LDAP 3 gives users write access as well - a welcome feature.

Additionally, Release 5 has extended its certificate-based security model. Domino's certificates have a proprietary format, but Release 5 adds support for X.509-standard certificates. X.509 allows two disparate mail systems to exchange secure messages using public/private key encryption, and requires the use of a trusted third party, such as VeriSign, to guarantee authenticity.

Release 5 also introduces the Domino Designer client. As its name implies, all application development occurs within the Domino Designer. Because Domino can host Notes and Web clients, Domino Designer can tailor an application for either or both environments. The slick interface easily allows Notes and Web previews of design content. Designer supports HTML 4 and Cascading Style Sheets.

Domino development is a major topic unto itself, but several enhancements since Release 4 are noteworthy. Lotus has made several Notes interface elements available to programmers as Java applets for inclusion in Web-based applications. Also included is a frame designer, aimed at making it easier to add framed HTML elements to Web-based applications. And Lotus has added out-of-the-box support for back-end database connectivity in many popular data formats.

The improvements in the Notes client, the third and most commonly deployed of the three new clients in Release 5, are as dramatic as those in Administrator and Designer. The most obvious change is a radical departure from the familiar Notes desktop. While the old desktop remains for those who admire its simplicity, it is buried beneath an impressive new browserlike interface reminiscent of Internet Explorer, but with an extra ribbon bar of buttons down the left side. Bookmarks to favorite Notes databases, documents or URL addresses are displayed on the main page. These, along with the ability to run Internet Explorer within the Notes client, give you a single highly functional interface to Domino intranets and the Web.

Still, the new interface is a bit daunting. Existing Notes shops should plan on a major end-user training initiative.

While hardly a light version of its former self, Release 5 of the Notes client does not require a Notes server. The Notes client can act as a client for a Domino server, the Internet or both. Choosing the Internet allows you to set up a POP3 or IMAP4 mailbox as the primary account.

Installation of client and server software is much refined over Notes Release 4. The installation program is now InstallShield-based and requires little administrator input. We were not able to review any printed documentation.

We were very impressed with Release 5 of Notes and Domino, from an architectural and functionality perspective. The Domino Administrator is a polished tool that aids in planning, monitoring and problem resolution. Domino's support of the latest versions of open standards gives enterprise administrators significant flexibility in planning and deploying applications.

With the inclusion of native POP3 and IMAP4 support in the Notes client, it looks like Notes is positioned for the masses, though clearly you get the biggest benefits from running Notes on the desktop when you have a Domino server.

With Release 5, Lotus offers up more of everything. We were impressed with this major overhaul.

Scorecard

Note: Products are ranked on a 1-10 scale in each category, then multiplied by the weight in each category. These are added to give a total score.

NetResults

Domino and Notes, Release 5
Lotus Development Corp.
55 Cambridge Parkway
Cambridge, Mass. 02142
(617) 577-8500
Web site
Pricing: TBD
Pros: Architecture provides a single platform for web development, messaging, and knowledge management; Security enhanced with X.509 compliance; LDAP V3 support is enterprise-ready
Cons: New user interface will require training

RELATED LINKS Goldberg has been a contributing editor at Network World for the past five years. He can be reached at sgoldberg@ pobox.com.

Scorecard and NetResults
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