"Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure." ” Confucius, ancient Chinese philosopher, 551 BC “479 BC WebSphere and Lotus Collaboration can be used together in several ways. WebSphere can be used together with Domino; WebSphere can be used with the new Lotus Workplace components; and WebSphere can be used with the WebSphere Portal Server and the Lotus Collaboration Central components . Of course, WebSphere also can be used with any combination of these options. This chapter explores the benefits of these different ways of using WebSphere and Lotus Collaboration together. A common installation setup for WebSphere and Domino together is to have DB2 and WebSphere on one computer and Domino on another computer. This configuration allows separation of the components so that, for example, WebSphere and DB2 could be installed behind a firewall, with the Domino HTTP server in a DMZ. A DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) involves the formation of multiple firewalls to add additional layers of protection between a company's database and the Internet. A typical DMZ configuration includes: An outer firewall between the public Internet and the Web server or servers processing the requests originating on the company Web site; An inner firewall between the Web server and the application servers to which it is forwarding requests . Company data would reside behind the inner firewall. In other words, the business logic and data so important to the company are protected behind a double layer of firewalls. This chapter will first discuss the basic hardware and software platforms that are used for a combined WebSphere and Domino system. Then the use of the WebSphere portal with Lotus Collaboration is described. Finally, some recommendations on moving Domino data and applications to the WebSphere Portal are given. The detailed steps for using WebSphere Application Server 5 and Domino 6 together are given in Chapter 6, "Building a Combined WebSphere and Domino System," and Appendix C. | 