Lotus Domino Web Access client performance improvements

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Level: Introductory

Dana St. Clair, Principal Technical Writer, IBM Corporation

29 Mar 2005
Updated 16 Mar 2006

See how significantly your Domino Web Access client performance can improve with the release 6.5.3 hotfix (included in Domino Web Access 6.5.4 and later). Administrators and users learn tips to increase performance and to improve user satisfaction.

[Editor's note: The client-side performance improvements described in this article apply to Lotus Domino Web Access 7. For those on an earlier release of Lotus Domino Web Access, we recommend that you upgrade to Lotus Notes/Domino 6.5.4 or later.]

IBM Lotus Domino Web Access (DWA), IBM's premiere Web client for accessing a Domino-based mail file, offers a rich user experience for both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers through the use of dynamic HTML (DHTML). As a DHTML application, the Domino Web Access client performance is governed by server performance, network performance, and client configuration.

With the Domino Web Access 6.5.3 hotfix (included in DWA 6.5.4 and later), Domino Web Access boasts an improvement in client response time of 30 to 40 percent (most notable on low-end machines) over DWA 6.5.3 without the hotfix. Beyond the hotfix, there are measures that both administrators and users can take to improve performance. But a performance improvement in one area may also have an unexpected impact in another area. To make the right decision, you need to know the options available to you and the impact your decision may have.

This article presents the performance results for the Domino Web Access 6.5.3 hotfix. It also describes the settings that administrators and users can use to improve performance and the expected results of using those settings.

Requirements for Domino Web Access

The basic requirements for Domino Web Access users to access their mail files are:

• The user must have a Domino Web Access mail template (INOTESx.NTF). The recommended template is Domino Web Access 6 (INOTES6.NTF).
• The HTTP server task (the Domino Web server) must be running on the server where the mail file resides.

Notes users can replace the design of their mail files with INOTES6.NTF. After they have done this, they can access their mail file via a Web browser or continue to use the Notes client to access their mail file with no loss of functionality.

How Domino Web Access works

Domino Web Access uses these components:

• The Domino Web server
• The user's browser
• An Internet password

The Domino Web server stores the user's mail database, which contains personal data to be displayed, such as messages, calendar entries, and views. The logic and forms that are used to display this data (HTML and JavaScript) are maintained in a common forms database (FORMS6.NSF) and in the Web server code itself. The common forms database and server code are shared by all users.

When a Domino Web Access HTTP request is received by the Web server, the appropriate form is loaded from the common forms database (FORMS6.NSF), and the HTTP response is generated using data (if necessary) from the user's mail database. The responses can also have external references to other elements, such as style sheets, script modules, and images. When the Web browser receives the response, it renders the page by loading the HTML and any embedded script references. It also triggers additional requests to load the external references. Many of the external references are UI design elements that do not change. These elements are stored in the browser's file system cache so that the browser needs to download them over the network only once. When the browser needs to reload the elements, it simply grabs the copy from its own cache. Confidential content, such as the body of a mail message, is tagged by the server so that it is not cached.

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Performance factors

As with any Web application, user response time depends on a combination of factors:

• The client machine configuration
• The network transit time when sending the request from the browser to the Web server
• The time it takes for the Web server to process the request
• The network transit time when sending the response from the Web server to the browser
• The time it takes for the browser to open and process the response
• The number of requests that are needed to render a page in the browser

Client machine configuration

With each subsequent release, Domino Web Access has continued to grow, adding new features and a rich user interface that is created using JavaScript technology. As the product has grown, so too have the client configuration recommendations grown to support this full array of features. Domino Web Access runs without error on lower-end machines, but the performance on those machines may not provide the level of performance you need for your messaging solution. So there is a minimum client configuration as well as a recommended client configuration.

Minimum client configuration
For release 6.5.3, the minimum recommended Windows client configuration is a Pentium III, 800 MHz, 256 MB system. However, with the release 6.5.3 performance hotfix, Domino Web Access can accommodate a minimum client configuration of 400 MHz with 128 MB RAM. The recommended minimum Linux client configuration is a Pentium III, 500 MHz, 192 MB system.

Recommended client configuration
The recommended machine configuration for Domino Web Access on both Internet Explorer 6.0 and Mozilla is a Pentium IV, 1 GHz, 512 MB system.

Web server configuration

Although Web server configuration is a factor in Domino Web Access performance, the configuration issues relate to scalability, number of users, and network speed. These issues are not specific to Domino Web Access. You can find information on how to get more from your Web server configuration in multiple server scalability and performance articles available on the Performance page on developerWorks: Lotus.

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Testing

To test performance, 16 of the most common operations were tested using Lotus Domino 6.5.3 and Lotus Domino 6.5.3 with the performance hotfix on both Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 on Windows 2000 and Mozilla 1.7 on SuSE Linux. Tests were also performed using different client machine configurations. Actual production response times will vary by machine, amount of memory, network load and speed, Web server load, and the processing time consumed by other applications.

Test methodology

The test methodology used to measure the user client response times was designed to simulate how a typical user would use Domino Web Access. Client-side response times were measured using a stop watch. The response time is the total time required for the browser to render a page after a user initiates a given operation.

All performance tests were conducted for a single user on a network that included only the Domino server and client machines. This was done in an effort to eliminate the effect of network load as a performance factor. Also, the tests were conducted using the HTTP (instead of HTTPS) and without the Lotus Instant Messaging features enabled. Response times were measured both with and without GZIP enabled. (For additional information about GZIP, see the section on GZIP compression later in this article.)

Before testing, the browser's Web page cache was cleared. Then all 16 operations were run once to populate the server and browser caches. This was done to more closely simulate how a typical user would use Domino Web Access. As described earlier, the first time you perform an operation, Domino Web Access downloads JavaScript libraries, which are then cached by the browser. The cached code stays in the cache and can be reused even after the browser is closed, or the system is rebooted. So the second time you performs the operation, the browser uses the cached version of the JavaScript.

Each operation was performed five times. The response time was calculated based on the average of those times. The 16 common operations measured were:

• Open the One Day view (with seven calendar entries)
• Open the One Week view (with 22 calendar entries)
• Open the One Month view (with 22 calendar entries)
• Open the Inbox view (with 100 mail messages)
• Open a new message
• Sort the Inbox by the Who Column
• Send a message to one person
• Open a message (23 KB)
• Open an invitation
• Create a reply without history
• Send a reply to three people
• Send a message with a 70 KB attachment to one person
• Send a message with a 1 KB attachment to one person
• Open a new Calendar entry
• Delete one message from the Inbox
• Move one message from the Inbox to a folder

The impact of machine type

Although Domino Web Access 6.5.3 with the hotfix runs and performs as expected on the lower-end machines, there is no denying that the newer and more powerful machines result in better performance. Although using GZIP with lower-end machines degrades performance slightly, the impact is negligible with the higher-end 3 GHz machine.

The following charts show DWA 6.5.3 with the hotfix, using the lightweight UI performance enhancement with and without GZIP enabled. (NOTE: The lightweight UI is a scaled-down version of the standard DWA UI, optional with the release 6.5.3 hotfix. For more information, see the section "Lightweight user interface" later in this article.)

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Comparing 6.5.3 with 6.5.3 plus hotfix performance results

To test the performance of the DWA 6.5.3 hotfix in the most extreme cases, measurements were taken on the lowest recommended machines. Using response times in DWA 6.5.3 with the standard UI as a basis, we compared response times for DWA 6.5.3 with the hotfix using the standard UI, and DWA 6.5.3 with the hotfix using the lightweight UI. Response times in Mozilla 1.7 improved by 41 percent using the standard user interface and 44 percent using the lightweight user interface. Response times in Internet Explorer improved by 42 percent using the standard UI and 48 percent using the lightweight user interface. For more information on the lightweight user interface, see the section "Lightweight user interface" later in this article.

The following results were obtained using Microsoft Windows 2000 with Internet Explorer 6.0 SP 4 on a 400 MHz, 128 MB client machine and using SuSE Linux with a Mozilla 1.7 browser on a 500 MHz, 192 MB client machine. Response times were measured in seconds.

How line speed affects performance

If it is true that a better machine equals better performance, the same can certainly be said for network speed. As shown in the following chart, a slow network can adversely impact performance. One of the ways in which administrators can improve performance for slower networks is to use GZIP compression. Designed specifically to improve the speed of slower networks by compressing the data, GZIP has little impact on high speed or closed networks. Also, because the browser must also decompress the received data, GZIP compression can negatively impact performance on slower machines (600 GHz or lower). If you have an environment that includes low-end machines and a slow network, using GZIP may be a performance trade off. Network time is improved, but response time at the client machine may be slower in some cases. For more information on GZIP, see the section "GZIP compression" later in this article.

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Ways you can improve end user performance

In addition to the performance improvement realized with the Domino Web Access 6.5.3 hotfix, there are a number of settings that administrators and users can use to get the most out of Domino Web Access performance.

Administrators can create Web Site Rules for icons. They can also enable or disable GZIP compression and set the level of cache cleanout. Using Notes.ini settings, administrators can globally apply the lightweight user interface or the reuse child windows feature.

Users can set Domino Web Access preferences to disable drag and drop and in-place editing and can choose to reuse child windows (if this feature is not enabled globally by an administrator). In addition, there are recommended Web browser settings that users can set. And, for a quick view of their daily schedule, users can use the Summary Calendar view.

Web Site Rule for icons

To ensure that icons are not retrieved repeatedly by a user, you can create a Web Site Rule document. You can create this document when you use a Web Site document to configure the Web sites hosted on your Domino server. You create a Web Site Rule document for icons by selecting the HTTP response header option as the type of rule and specifying that it return an Expires header for 364 days when the incoming URL contains the string /icons/*.

Figure 4 shows an example Web Site Rule document for icons. For a complete explanation of Web Site Rules documents, see the section on Web Servers in the Domino Administrator help 6.5 or later.

GZIP compression

Beginning with Domino server 6.5, you can use GZIP compression to compress responses being sent to the browser. GZIP is most useful in the case of a slow network connection in which the transmission of data consumes a significant portion of the time a user waits for the page to be displayed. However, because the browser must also decompress the received data, GZIP compression can negatively impact performance on slower machines (600 MHz or slower), so weigh the pros and cons when deciding to use it.

GZIP is enabled by default and can be disabled via the following Notes.ini setting:

Disabling this setting controls the responses for the entire server. But if you have an environment that includes both high-end and low-end machines, individual users with low-end machines can disable it through their browser settings. In Internet Explorer, you can disable GZIP compression by choosing Tools - Internet Options. On the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog box, deselect the HTTP 1.1 Settings option. In Mozilla, you can find the corresponding setting for your browser in the Preferences - Advanced - HTTP Networking dialog box.

NOTE: Disabling HTTP 1.1 may have ramifications more than disabling GZIP.

Browser cache management

As described earlier, Domino Web Access caches many of the external references, such as UI design elements, in the browser's file system cache. Then, when the browser needs to reload the elements, it simply grabs the copy from its own cache.

One of the ways that you can fine tune performance is to adjust the level of cache scrubbing. Beginning with Lotus Domino 6.5, administrators can set the level of cache cleanout by defining which elements (style sheets, static code, Web pages, URLs, and so on) to keep in the cache. For some administrators, keeping even static elements in the cache may not be desirable.

The Notes.ini setting, iNotes_WA_LogoutScrubType, defines six different security settings that vary from the default (which keeps some design information from the mail file) to the most secure option (which deletes all traces of Domino Web Access and all other Web pages in the Temporary Internet files folder during logout). Using this setting, you can balance performance you want with the security you need.

The table below shows the range of cache clearing available. From a performance standpoint, levels 3 and 5 are least desirable because they delete the common forms database content. However, in all cases, pages that include user specific information are removed from the Temporary Internet files folder when the user logs out.

For more information about browser cache management, see the Domino Web Access Mail section of the Domino Administrator help release 6.5 and later.

Lightweight user interface

Beginning with the release 6.5.3 hotfix, a new lightweight skin is available for both the default and the WebSphere Portal user interface. By removing as many GIF images as possible from the default skin, the differences in the resulting lightweight skin are mainly cosmetic and only slightly less esthetically pleasing to the discerning user. Figure 5 shows the default skin.

In general, some of the rounded edges have a square look in the lightweight UI (see Figure 6). This is predominantly visible on tabs and buttons and in the highlighting around names and titles. In addition, background colors are solid instead of gradient, and scrollbars have been added to the left panel so that users navigate by scrolling instead of by clicking arrows.

The only loss of feature in the lightweight UI is that there is no way to collapse the left-side navigation panel. Figure 7 compares the standard UI navigation panel to the lightweight UI panel.

To enable the new lightweight skin for all Domino Web Access users, add the variable iNotes_WA_UI=inotes_lite to the Domino Web Access server's Notes.ini file. Or, if all your Domino Web Access users are using the Portal UI and you want them to use the new lightweight skin, add the variable iNotes_WA_UI=portal_lite to your Domino Web Access server's Notes.ini file.

For users who access their mail via Domino Web Access Redirect (a convenient feature that DWA users use to locate their mail), you can modify the Domino Web Access Redirect template (IWAREDIR.NTF). The new skin is then available as a Personal Option from the Domino Web Access Redirect page, provided that Personal Options are enabled in Domino Web Access Redirect. To enable the lightweight skin for Domino Web Access Redirect:

1. From Domino Designer, open the IWAREDIR.NTF file.
2. Open the WMRProfile form.
3. Open the properties for the WMRProfileURL field, which is an editable Combo box.
4. From the Control tab, add the following to the list of choices:

   LiteUI | ?OpenDatabase&ui=iNotes_Lite

5. Save the form and close Domino Designer.
6. Update the design of the Domino Web Access Redirect database with the modified IWAREDIR.NTF template.

Likewise, to enable the lightweight skin for WebSphere Portal, follow the same steps as described previously and change the &ui=portal on each option to &ui=portal_lite.

Reuse child windows

Beginning with the 6.5.3 hotfix, Domino Web Access reuses windows that are already open, thereby reducing the time it takes to perform certain actions. Domino Web Access reuses the Read Message window, the New Message window, and the New Calendar Entry window. Reusing these child windows improves the performance time for some of the most frequently used actions -- reading and creating email messages and creating Calendar entries.

Users can enable this option on an individual basis by setting a Domino Web Access preference. Administrators can enable reuse of child windows globally, by adding the following Notes.ini setting to the Web server's Notes.ini file.

When this feature is set, Domino Web Access caches, and then reuses portions of the Mail and Calendar forms that do not change. For example, when you open a message, the Read Message window opens. The Read Message form is also cached without the message text. The form is then used to display any additional messages that you open in the same window. This eliminates the time it takes to close the first window and open a subsequent message in a new one.

Disable drag and drop and in-place editing

To improve the response time in Calendar views, you can disable the drag and drop feature in Domino Web Access Calendar Display preferences. The drag and drop feature allows you to drag an appointment, for example, to a new time. Disabling this preference also disables in-place editing, which allows you to click a scheduled Calendar entry and edit in the view, instead of having to open the entry in a separate window.

Use the Summarize view

Another useful performance feature is the Calendar Summarize view. Instead of displaying all of the time slots in a grid, the Summarize view displays a summary list of Calendar entries. To use the summarize feature, from any Calendar view, choose View - Summarize.

Check your Web browser settings

In general, the most current supported version of any browser provides the best performance. Mozilla 1.7, for example, is inherently faster than Mozilla 1.4. But there are also a number of browser settings that you can set to improve the performance of Domino Web Access.

Internet Explorer settings
In Internet Explorer, use the following recommended Internet Options settings with Domino Web Access.

1. Choose Tools - Internet Options.
2. Select the General tab.
3. Under Temporary Internet files, click the Settings button.
4. For "Check for newer versions of stored pages," select the Automatically option.
5. Click OK to the save the changes.
6. In the Internet options dialog box, select the Advanced tab and make sure these settings are not selected:
   • Browsing - Use smooth scrolling
   • Security - Empty Temporary Internet files folder when browser is closed
   • Security - Do not save encrypted pages to disk

Mozilla settings
Domino Web Access supports the Mozilla browser running on Red Hat and SuSE Linux. There are a number of configuration values that you can use to tune Mozilla. These are readily available on the Web using your favorite search engine. A search for "Mozilla Tuning" yields a large number of hits.

You can also use the browser setting browser.cache.disk_cache_ssl=1 (if HTTPS is used to access the Domino Web Access server) to improve performance with Domino Web Access.

Third-party accelerators

Domino Web Access also supports the use of these third-party products to improve Domino Web Access's performance and scalability by reducing network bandwidth and providing SSL acceleration. Here is a sample list of some of these products. For more information, contact the individual vendors.

• FineGround Condenser/FineGround Velocity Appliance from FineGround
• T|X Web I/O Accelerator from Redline Networks
• TurboGold Enterprise Edition from Stampede Technologies, Inc.

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Summary

As shown in the test results presented here, Domino Web Access performance is highly dependent on network topology and client and server machines. The addition of the release 6.5.3 hotfix with the lightweight user interface will give your performance a boost. We hope that the recommendations made here will give you a fuller picture of the options available to you and help you understand how best to configure your systems to get the most out of your Domino Web Access client.

Acknowledgement

This article could not have been written without the contributions of Jonathan Griep and Samir Patel. Thanks also go to the following people for their contribution to this article: Vinod Seraphin, Dan Gurney, Dan Jamrog, and Jack Ciejek and to John Immerman and Sheryl Jablonowski for their assistance.

Resources

• To learn about the benefits of network compression in Lotus Domino, see the article, "Network compression in Domino 6."
  
  
• Learn how to customize the Domino Web Access client from the article, "Customizing the look and feel of Domino Web Access 6.5."
  
  
• For more performance information about this and other Lotus products, see the developerWorks: Lotus Performance page.
  
  
• Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in developerWorks blogs.
  

About the author

		Dana St. Clair is a Principal Technical Writer for the IBM/Lotus Software Group. Dana joined IBM in 2000. She currently writes the client and administration documentation for Domino Web Access and Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook. Dana's past contributions include planning and writing several sections of the Domino Administration 6.0 documentation.

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