Multiple-System Concepts

Before we discuss the tasks common to multiple-system administration, there are several concepts you need to understand. The following sections walk through those concepts.

The Primary Domain Defines the System

If you are working with more than one GroupWise system, you are also working with more than one primary domain. The primary domain database, WPDOMAIN.DB, contains complete information about all objects contained in its GroupWise system.

To administer multiple systems, you need to know which primary domain owns which objects. You also need to know which system you are connecting to when you make changes.

External Domains Are Placeholders

A primary domain can contain a special kind of recordan external domain record. This is essentially a placeholder that allows the primary domain to be aware of the existence of another GroupWise system. Note, however, that this placeholder does not give the primary domain any control over objects that exist in the other system.

External domains allow you to manage the connectivity between two or more GroupWise systems as if they were a single systemalmost. You will use external domain records as you merge systems into a single system, or release domains into their own systems. You will also use external domain records to set up address-book synchronization between two systems that are external to each other.

Releasing Domains

When a GroupWise secondary domain needs to become its own system (as part of an outsourcing contract, perhaps), the administrator must tell the primary domain to release the secondary domain that must be let go.

The secondary domain then becomes the primary domain in its own, single-domain system.

Merging Systems

When two GroupWise systems need to be combined, the primary domain for one system will release all of its secondary domains. This, in effect, creates several GroupWise systems, each with its own primary domain. The primary domain for the destination system must adopt each of these domains in turn. Thus, when merging two systems, you must first go through the process of releasing all the secondary domains on one of the systems.

When the merges are complete, all domains will belong to a single system, and there will be only one primary domain. Of course, partial merges are not uncommonone department or division might be sold to another company. In this case, that division's domain would be released from the original system and merged with a new one.

Synchronizing Systems

When two GroupWise systems need to remain separate, but also need to share their address books, the administrator can enable external system synchronization. This can be a great boon to productivity.

The downside to external system synchronization is that it can potentially bloat the GroupWise directory, making rebuild times on WPDOMAIN.DB and WPHOST.DB files longer. This is typically the case when two very large organizations (5,000 or more users) decide to synchronize their address books. Some customers choose to use an LDAP solution, to create address-book solutions that do not bloat the GroupWise directory.