LS08: Admins just say FUC it

This Blog is brough to you by the letters F-U-C but sadly no K.

On occasion I do admit to being an administrator on here and NOT a developer, when not discussing more serious business(more on this next week).

However, while training in Mississippi last week before Lotusphere I taught an acronym to the group of admins that when you have a corrupted nsf or database or just want to make sure one is okay, you have to FUC it.

I am sure somewhere in the world this has been used by some admins, if not I stake my claim and all royalties may be paid in the form of a bottle of single malt scotch(please check on our stocks so we do not duplicate, unless you have Macallan 30yr old we accept all bottles including half full ones), but I digress.

Note to Paul Mooney, you can use this for next year's tips list. We can discuss speaking slots.

I do not believe you heard this in Lotusphere this year or ever
.
All admins know this, if not, please read the help files or email me for an excellent chart that outlines the switch options for these.
I am not going to detail the multiple ways to run these but there are at last count at least 8 diffeerent ways to accomplish these tasks if you include web admin, server console admin, rconsole, command line, admin client, DOS I mean windows command line, notes client, designer client and more. keep in mind I am talking asbout running it on demand, not at a set time in the configuration doc or notes.ini on the server, or a policy or well yuou get the idea.

F = Fixup
U = Updall
C = Compact

There is Q for quit but we are trying to keep the server up and not restart it.

Couldn't think of a K, although there is Kill from nsd -kill(run from your Notes program file, mine looks like c:\lotus\notes8\nsd -kill) which is used to stop all Lotus processes in the event of a Windows or Java conflict or some other reason which crashes your Notes client.

For those that wonder, yes I do run Notes R8 and Domino R8 on a ......Vista laptop. I also run R2,3,4,5,6,7 on it as well. No VM either.

So to all the new admins out there, I was there once too and there are no stupid questions when it comes to managing your Lotus infrastructure.

177 days of a Domino Server in Production?

Not likely the longest running server, by far, but I did manage to get a screenshot of a Lotus Domino server I updated recently before it was brought down for maintenance to install and upgrade to Domino r8.

177 days! Almost 6 months since it last came down.

This was the main web server too. I love it but who has a longer time frame? We shouldn't because we should be updating it on quarterly releases but still, solid as a rock.

Any Exchange people out there got one like this?

BES and R8

Still waiting for the updated code from RIM? Never mind that, just go get their updated version, last was posted as 4.1.4MR3. MR is their way of saying FixPack.
I have now installed/upgraded a few servers to Domino R8 and the latest BES versions and aside from the known anomalies posted at RIM and IBM, so far no one is complaining.

I admit, I was put off by it, but when I looked into it further found the issues were something we could live with and we now run, internally, all R8 servers in production areas. We still have a mix for testing, development and clients but we are good to go for R8.

Now I await the Quickr 8.0.1 version, along with Domino 8.0.1 so I can get that fully updated properly.

No more excuses, just do it and start the year off with a bang!

Yep, them guys are at it again

Always comes down to Microsoft and Lotus. In a discussion today about Blackberry's BES, again comes the "it's just email right" lines. Yeah, it's just email and really that hyundai tiburon is just like a Hummer.(apologies to both owners)
What makes Exchange unique? Well, it just does email, period. And well, some would say.

But it doesn't play nice with others OF ITS OWN KIND. Mix and match version? Fogedaboudit!
AD will make life better (well, sort of, BUT we did have to update all our servers at one time to the new version of 2003).
Go to Exchange 2003, it will fix your problems, ahem, well we meant 2007.
What and change my harwdare and my software and right I now need to also update my AD and then the backups and you still can't cluster multiple types of hardware?
ARRGGHHH!

Domino, aside from some peculiarities in lotyuscripts and code pieces talks nicely across the board, the same app you wrote for R3 runs in R8, but it looks like crap probably too, if it doesn't call Lotus now and ask for Mary Beth Raven!

Sure there are issues with Lotus versions, some were not as cooked as we would like, but nothing ever made us change our hardware, directory structure, cluster or backup solutions.

I know, you heard this a million times, but I just can't figure out how I keep running into these discussions so often.

R8 and Advertising for the Launch

Whoa! Stop the Presses!
Let's step away for a moment from pure Evangelism and look at possible advertising.
Warning, the likelihood of Lotus using these ideas are nominal, but you can't blame a guy from tryng to help.

R8 the next version of Lotus Notes & Domino could have some great tie ins, since it sounds like RATE (or if you want R8 is GR8) for example for print ads of course the name and tags are in Yellow:

FPL for instance could be shown with a FPL renewed energy R8
or Moody's could show the IBM R8 (clear this with legal first)
Any Lawyers professional R8
Top consulting firms guaranteed R8
Mortage companies provide best possible R8

Goofy, maybe. But although I laughed at the habitrail ads in IT magazines for Lotus, they just don't get much across to the average joe on the street, or myself because who wants to read text in an AD? Just stick on the logo and whatever this years IBM name/tag for Lotus is and leave it.

If the graphic doesn't say it all, you are wating your time, like showing a full slide of text in powerpoint presentations, no one reads it all.

Coke is it! But Lotus Notes is GR8!

How Lotus Notes & Domino R8 could be launched

KABOOM!! Yep it's that time of year when everyone imitates Walt Disney World at 10pm. Just kidding, but for all you Lotusphere attendees you know what I mean.

Now I don't know about you, but where I live there are a plethora of firework stores and tent sales. Why? So people can go to the ER without fingers or eyebrows? No, because you would not know where to buy them if you did not see them, or in my case remember July 4th was around the corner.

What does this have to do with Lotus? Or R8 of Lotus Notes & Domino being launched? Because I would love to see a tent pop up on every corner with the big Lotus logo we all know and love on the day R8 comes out. But that will never happen (by the way anybody at Goodyear, can we borrow a blimp ).

However, if you are a BP out there reading this or an IBM Sales rep/SE/IGS consultant, get moving on figuring out how to have a Lotus R8 bash at every client, give out stuff left and right, show clients we support them and Lotus. Bring in doughnuts, coffee, cookies, anything yellow.

Just get out there and show your clients how much they mean to you and Lotus and IBM.

I would love to see responses to this as I plan some ideas myself. Yes I know we don't know yet what day it will be, but that is not important right now.

Lotus marketing, where are you, help us to help you!