Performance Tuning

Q: What is the quickest way to find an IFS directory or file that I want to restore?

A: There are various options to decrease the amount of time it takes to find an IFS directory or file that you want to restore. Pick the option that works best for you.

a. If you know the path and it exists on the IBM i, traverse the iNavigator IFS tree until you find the path/file you want to restore. Once found, right click on it and select restore. This will start the restore wizard primed with your selection.

b. If you know part of the path, (e.g., /notes/mail), start the restore wizard and enter the path you know on the "Restore - Specify Directory" screen that contains the browse button. The browse will then be faster because the history search/query is qualified with the path you entered. Note, if BRMS breaks the restore into multiple pieces/packages (this may be done for Lotus servers), some trial an error may be needed to locate the specific path/file. If this is inconvenient, see option "c".

If you only know the file name (e.g., myNotesMail.nsf) or "b" does not work well for you, use the windows "Start->Search->For Files or Folders..." utility. This requires you to share the IBM i IFS parent path you wish to search.

WARNING: Do not use this operation unless all Domino servers have ended. Using this operation when Domino servers are running may result in unpredictable results (e.g., hang, crash, etc.).

The following steps are required to share the IBM i IFS parent path:

Make sure all Domino servers have ended.
From iNavigator, set up the IFS share: traverse the iNavigator IFS tree to the parent path you wish to search. Then, right click on this path and select "Sharing" to setup a share. NOTE: To speed up the search time, define the share path as specific as possible (e.g., /Notes/Mail). Avoid making "root" the share point! (root results in search of all Libraries, QDLS, IFS directories, QOpt, etc.)
From your windows PC, map a network drive to the share defined above: From windows "My Computer" desktop icon, right click and select "map drive". Enter an available drive letter and define the folder; e.g., \\<IBM iName>\<IBM iShareYouDefinedInPreviousStep>. You will be prompted for the IBM i password if needed.

Once the above is done, you can now use windows "Search->For Files or Folders...". Be sure to select the IBM i drive you mapped above when doing the search.

Q: Should I expect the same kind of performance as saving IFS files?

A: No. To do a full online backup of a domino server we must back up first the databases and then backup the changes. However, remember this is all done with the servers up... NO down time!

Q: Do you have any customer data on save performance, then?

A: Yes, One customer is getting about 183 GB/HR (800GB of Domino Data) with 3592 drives. They have a model 570 with 24GB of memory. Another customer is getting about 85GB/HR (700GB of Domino Data) with 3590 drives. They have a S40-2280 Processor and 24GB of memory. Another customer with an IBM i 840 server is getting about 68-70 GB/HR of domino data with 3590E drives and about 70 GB/HR of data with 3580 LTO-1 drives.

Q: Should I expect 3X compression of data?

A: No. On average around 2X.

Q: Is there a way to speed up my full saves?

A: Yes. The databases are backed up in groups. The number of databases in a group defaults to 50 if your Domino version is R5.011 or later. Previously, the default number of databases in a group was 5.

Backing up individual Lotus® server databases does not perform well. Therefore, the Lotus server databases are backed up in groups to improve the save performance. You can change the number of databases in the groups by changing an entry in the NOTES.INI file. Follow these steps to change the number of databases backed up in a group.

You can change this group value by adding the following entry in the NOTES.ini file for the server (WRKDOMSVR for Domino or WRKLQPSVR for Quickplace)

SAVDOMBRM_FILES_IN_GROUP=x
SAVLQPBRM_FILES_IN_GROUP=x

where x is the number of files to group in one BRMS package.

    Type WRKDOMSVR on a command line.
    Choose 13=Edit NOTES.INI on the server you want to modify.
    Position to the following entry and modify as required.

SAVDOMBRM_FILES_IN_GROUP=nnn

where nnn is the number of databases to be grouped in one BRMS package.

As you increase the number of databases in a group, your Lotus server is backed up more quickly. However, all databases in the group will be journaled during the backup with the changes backed up separately. Because all the databases in the group are journaled until all databases in the group are backed up, the time during which changes to the databases can occur is increased and the size of the changes backed up will increase. When the databases are recovered, the changes to the database that occurred during the backup will be reapplied. The reapply process takes longer as the number of changes increases.

If your server is being backed up during heavy server usage, you will want to keep this group value relatively small, so that fewer changes occur to the database during the backup operation. As a result, recovery of the database can occur in a reasonable amount of time.

If your server is being backed up during off hours when server use is low, you can set the group value higher to speed up the backup operation, while keeping the recovery time reasonable. The maximum group value is 120.

Set up BRMS to use Asysncbring to help improve IFS save performance

Q: Why do I have to keep hitting enter when I restore Lotus server databases using the WRKMEDIBRM command?

A: Because you are restoring Domino databases from an interactive screen, and Domino has a message that would normally go to the Domino console, it may decide to put that message to the interactive session. The user must then press the Enter key to continue with the restore request. One way to avoid having to hit Enter repeatedly is to send the messages to a spool file by issuing the following command prior to using WRKMEDIBRM:

OVRPRTF FILE(STDOUT) TOFILE(QPRINT) OVRSCOPE(*JOB)

After you have finished restoring the database, issue:

DLTOVR FILE(STDOUT) LVL(*JOB)