Runnning BES the Blackberry Way
By Simon Bisson & Mary Branscombe in Editorial
Posted in Uncategorized on
RIM’s WES 2008 event wasn’t just about the shiny devices (though the Bold is very impressive). It’s also about the nuts and bolts behind RIM’s platform, and about how you actually run your own Blackberry service. With plenty of RIM staff on hand, and giving presentations on everything from web design for Blackberry browsers to configuring RIM’s tools to work with the latest versions of Lotus Domino, there’s a lot of material to help you through your working day.
Blackberry Enterprise Server is a hefty piece of software, and RIM’s own network administrators came down to Orlando to show how they run their service. Not surprisingly they have one of the most complex BES infrastructures around, supporting all three mail server platforms (Exchange, Domino, Groupwise) and with three distinct user classes: bleeding edge Alpha users, advanced Beta users, and general everyday Production users.
With a complex environment like that, spread across the world, what’s the secret sauce? It turns out to be their domain database strategy, which is regionalised and segregated (by mail platform and by user class). Even so, RIM aim to have as few databases as possible, with the intention of keeping management simple.
The team gave out some numbers. They currently support 9300 Blackberrys, of several different generations. There are 42 BES servers in the company, supporting all the different combinations of geography, user type, and mail server (of which there are more than 55). All that’s handled with 9 domain databases - running on centralised high availability SQL Server systems with remote connections from RIM’s global BES network.
If you’re worried about your BES performance you can take a tip from RIM, which uses a mix of virtual and physical BES systems. They use 2GB of RAM for Exchange nodes and 4GB of RAM for Lotus (as BES runs on the same server as Domino). Best results come from placing BES local to the mail server it’s using as a message source. The servers are also connected to the local PABX systems, as part of RIM’s new voice service.
So how’s it all managed? Users are supported with a service desk and with self-service. Self-service is increasingly important, and using RIM’s web-desktop manager rather than the standalone desktop tools they can set their own activation passwords and upgrade devices without having to call on the help desk and server administrators.
Server administration is handled by the corporate database team and a team of BES administrators, with the aim of tracking the code people are using on any given day. Systems are monitored using familiar enterprise management tools, including HP Open View and Microsoft System Center. A reporting database handles configuration queries, while custom scripts and the Blackberry Enterprise Resource Kit handle log analysis (though there are always ongoing evaluations of alternate tools).
It’s important for RIM to have good management tools and practices, as it’s using several different versions of the BES code - the current release, the next service pack, and the next generation release. At any time 1000 users are early adopters, already on the next generation Blackberry Enterprise Server.
So what are the five key tips from RIM’s own administrators for a successful BES implementation?
- Keep your messaging environment healthy
- Protect the domain databases
- Ensure adequate server resources have been provisioned
- Remove orphaned/unused accounts from your mail servers
- Always document custom configurations (and also save logs)
– Simon
Not yet rated
Loading ...Trackback by - February 9, 2012 on 4:06 am
will smith scientology…
[…]cold concrete cell with saw dust covered floor […]…
Make a comment
Tag cloud
Archives
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
Most commented posts
- Java's SSVAGENT.EXE: training the monkey
103 comments
- When Windows 7 upgrades won’t hibernate (the solution)
- Do you need IPv6 for DirectAccess? Yes and No
- Chrome OS: what happens when "always connected", isn't?
- The ColdFusion Renaissance
- There’s a reason smartphones are locked down
- Is there a showstopper bug in Windows 7 CHKDSK?
- The LHC isn
- At sixes and Windows 7s
- Make Adobe Acrobat Pro deactivate
Highest Rated Blog Posts
- Songs of distant satellites (100%)
- Nobody knows what Web 2.0 really is (100%)
- Log in and lock in (100%)
- Top tips for speeding up Vista (100%)
- Mommy, why is there a home server in the office? (100%)
- Employees are our most valuable asset (snigger) (100%)
- Locking down IT or blocking creativity (100%)
- Consumer BlackBerrys are good for business (100%)
- HD Trek (100%)
- Join the (beta) community (100%)
