Since Domino’s been around for such a long time, there are a lot of beliefs about running it on cloud and what it can do that are simply not true.
One myth we at Prominic have to debunk every so often is that you can’t host Domino in the cloud, thus making the platform only on-premise accessible.
The actual truth is that HCL Digital Solutions has one of the most flexible cloud approaches in the market, which includes Cloud Hosting Managed Services Providers (CH-MSPs).
Cloud Hosting – Managed Service Providers
There is a diverse ecosystem of HCL Domino cloud providers around the world, and entrusting your Domino environment to them makes a difference for a whole host of reasons:
- These companies and their staff possess decades of Domino experience
- They are ready to assist with Domino projects of all size and complexity
- You retain as much control over your Domino servers as you desire
- You can off-load the areas of admin you don’t want to spend time on to MSP and retain the ones you want to work on.
- Many offer a quick cloud setup (Internet) and extra security (VPN+MPLS) options
- They offer a wide range of backups, clustering, high availability and security options.
There are a number of companies that have been selected as MSPs based on their experience with Domino and they cover the world.
Three of them, Belsoft, ISW and Prominic have formed a partnership, ThreeThirds, to make sure they can serve a larger range of needs from customers with their combined experience.
One question that probably will linger is: What can I still do if I migrate my Domino server to the cloud?
The reality is that you can still create Domino servers in the cloud just like you would have created them on-prem. The process of creating another server in your office or data center remains the same.
Some other things that you can do are:
- Use and access your existing names.nsf Domino Directory
- Access to all of the latest Domino stack technology: Nomad (iPad, Android, web browser), Traveler, Verse, Sametime, multi-factor authentication
- Be as bleeding-edge or as conservative as it suits your company.
One of the major advantages of working with a managed service provider is that you are in control of your security decisions. It has been well publicised in these past couple of months that competing tech companies have had some security concerns.
With Domino in the cloud you might be concerned whether you can use the same version or fix pack, hot fix or interim fix that you had on-prem. The answer is that yes, you can choose the version that you want to use as well as the OS you would like: Linux or Windows.
You can use custom Domino extensions (servlets, XPages, DSAPI filters, unrestricted LotusScript and Java agents, Java server add-in tasks, DIIOP remote Java, DLL, SO). You also get mail database template control unique for each of your users.
Bottom line, you can deploy any Domino apps and mail templates you can dream up!
Here is an example as to how easy it all can be; a few selections and you are good to go:
In order to access your Domino server you can still use the existing Domino Administrator. On top of that you will have full Operating system access – SSH and Remote Desktop in most plans. Prominic has also build a web based Domino access console:
This can be of real help if you are not near your Domino Administrator. You can login to your Administrator Portal and be able to issue commands to your Domino server and see how long it’s been up, if it has stopped at some point, all sort of necessary information right through a web console.
Managed service Providers can also lend you a hand when it comes to:
- Getting a handle on performance and scalability
- Real time web browser (“HTTP” protocol performance)
- Since Domino loves disk performance (IOPS) it helps that the MSPs have the solution of keeping your Domino apps humming and snappy for users.
Here is an example of a performance analysis that can not only help you see which users might have issues but also what you can do to improve:
One other great thing that working with an MSP offers is that you get full support when something crashes and you don’t have to spend your time tracking NSDs.
Tickets to HCL are opened on your behalf to diagnose crashes, and this leads to solving issues faster in order to enhance uptime and development.
Last but not least, the cloud is not just some abstract thing; in the end we are talking about physical servers you can visit. You also have the option of using the Data Center Visualizer to see the chassis and location.
If you have any questions about migrating your Domino server in the cloud, drop us an email and we will be more than happy to help you.