EXPERT RESPONSE
Bear in mind that each BlackBerry smartphone does not connect directly to the Lotus Domino server; but rather, each connects via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which in turn redirects Lotus Notes Domino email and PIM (personal information management) data for the user to their BlackBerry smartphone. So it may make more sense to think in terms of how many BlackBerry smartphones connect to each BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). RIM (Research in Motion) currently tests to a maximum of 2,000 users per BlackBerry Enterprise Server for performance testing purposes (generally using two Lotus Notes mail servers, each with 1,000 users).
A more important question for planning your deployment is: "How many Lotus Notes Domino mail servers does each BES connect with?" Optimally, you want to plan your environment and deploy your users so that each BES connects to the smallest number of mail servers possible -- this will ensure that the BES has the resources available it needs to scale well. We've found through testing that BlackBerry Enterprise Server scalability is most affected by two factors:
- The number of Lotus Notes mail servers each BlackBerry Enterprise Server communicates with, and
- The number of low-bandwidth connections it must use to connect to mail servers.
If your concern is reducing performance impact of the BES on the Lotus Notes Domino mail server, we recommend you consider upgrading to at least Lotus Notes Domino 7.0.2 and BES 4.1.2 or later. For more details, please see the webcast on this topic (available in the BlackBerry Resource Center), Great Enhancements in Domino BES Scalability. The presenters are RIM's lead developer for the Lotus Notes Domino BES (the estimable Pavel Shkolnikov), and RIM's Product Manager for IBM Technologies (me). Just keep in mind that this is a fairly technical presentation.
Do you have comments on this Ask the Expert Q&A? Let us know.
Related information from SearchDomino.com:
Expert Advice: Stop spam on BlackBerry mobile devices
Expert Advice: Is Web site accessed by a BlackBerry or Notes desktop?
Learning Guide: Wireless Integration Development
Reference Center: Lotus Notes Domino and mobile devices
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