Migrator for Notes 20.14.1 - User Guide for Office 365

Section 1. Introduction

1.1 Document Conventions

Notes and Domino .nsf files were often referred to in the past as “databases.” Over time, the term changed to “applications.” In this document, Notes and Domino .nsf files are mostly referred to with the more familiar name “databases,” and at other times they are referred to as “applications.”

The Navigation Pane shows a list of “views”. Each view will automatically become populated with data as you progress through the migration steps outlined in this document.  “Folders” are also shown through the Migrator for Notes application but are treated the same as views from a navigation perspective. While some folders use the same icon as a view (), they differ, in that, they contain information and documents that is manually placed there by you, the user.

A pipe (|) denotes the succession of steps when navigating from one menu, icon or button to another; for example, “expand the Preparation | Import Users folder” means to expand the Preparation folder first and then expand the Import Users subfolder. 

1.1 Document Conventions

Notes and Domino .nsf files were often referred to in the past as “databases.” Over time, the term changed to “applications.” In this document, Notes and Domino .nsf files are mostly referred to with the more familiar name “databases,” and at other times they are referred to as “applications.”

The Navigation Pane shows a list of “views”. Each view will automatically become populated with data as you progress through the migration steps outlined in this document.  “Folders” are also shown through the Migrator for Notes application but are treated the same as views from a navigation perspective. While some folders use the same icon as a view (), they differ, in that, they contain information and documents that is manually placed there by you, the user.

A pipe (|) denotes the succession of steps when navigating from one menu, icon or button to another; for example, “expand the Preparation | Import Users folder” means to expand the Preparation folder first and then expand the Import Users subfolder. 

1.2 Purpose & Audience

The purpose of this document is to provide information on how to use Migrator for Notes to perform a mail migration from HCL Domino and Notes to Office 365 (also known as Microsoft 365) versions of Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. It is assumed that the Migrator for Notes Release Notes, Requirements, and Installation and Configuration Guide documents have been read prior to using this user guide.

This document assumes the reader has a minimum of one-year experience using a Notes Client and some basic Domino Administration skills, as well as Exchange and PowerShell for mailbox provisioning. If Domino/Notes Administration topics mentioned in this document are not understood, please reference the HCL System Administration documentation that is included with the HCL Notes Administration tool or through HCL Domino/Notes online help. Similarly, details on Exchange or PowerShell topics are available in Microsoft Exchange’s documentation or on the Microsoft website.

1.3 About Binary Tree Migrator for Notes

Migrator for Notes is the most comprehensive software available for migrating from HCL Domino to Microsoft Exchange.

Migrator for Notes not only supports migrations to on-premises Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, but also to online versions of Microsoft Outlook and Hosted Exchange, including Office 365.

Migrator for Notes, part of Quest’s Binary Tree suite of migration solutions that includes Directory Sync Pro for Notes and Integration for Notes, offers unmatched data fidelity, migration management, and migration throughput.

Data Fidelity

Migrator for Notes migrates HCL Notes email messages, calendar entries, contacts, to-do lists, personal journal entries (notebook entries) and more to Microsoft Outlook and Exchange while retaining the original text formatting, images, attachments, and links. Migrator for Notes also ensures that recurring meetings are properly migrated so that any subsequent changes, reschedules, or cancellations can be entered for all instances of the meeting where these are supported in Exchange. The data fidelity of Migrator for Notes significantly reduces the risk that your users will experience business process disruptions, data loss, or corruption.

Also, fields in Notes, which do not have a corresponding field in Outlook, will not be migrated. 

Migration Management

Migrator for Notes allows you to manage the entire migration project. Migrator for Notes enables you to schedule users for migration, monitor the status of their migration, and to configure pre- and post-processing actions, such as decrypting encrypted email items, collecting rules and Access Control Lists. Migrator for Notes also enables you to control the data being migrated by enabling you to filter it by data type, date ranges and message size. Acting as a centralized migration management system, Migrator for Notes reduces the risk of forgotten tasks and provides an audit trail of tasks both completed as well as pending.

Migration Throughput

Migrator for Notes can scale to meet the migration requirements of any organization. Under optimal conditions, a single Migrator for Notes migration workstation can migrate up to 8 GB of data per hour. For smaller organizations, one Migrator for Notes workstation may be appropriate. For larger migrations, multiple Migrator for Notes workstations, whether on virtual machines or individual workstations, will coordinate the work effortlessly. Adding additional workstations is a simple and painless process. These additional workstations use a technology called Automated Workload Distribution (AWD) to ensure that each workstation is kept busy continuously.

Multiple laboratory tests have been performed to evaluate Migrator for Notes migration throughput. We have observed migration speeds of up to 8 GB of data per hour. Migration throughput will vary widely depending upon the source system, migration environment and target system.

• Lab Throughput Testing Details: Lab migrations are performed over a high-speed LAN (1000 mbps).

• Lab Domino and Exchange Servers support very few active users.

• Lab Migration workstation(s) normally have 2 GB of RAM or higher (often 4 GB). Although a minimum acceptable amount of RAM of 4 GB is strongly recommended. Also, processor speeds and number of processors increase migration throughput.

• Higher migration speeds have been observed on physical workstations versus virtual ones.

• Migration throughput is higher when migrating smaller number of messages with larger attachments than larger number of messages with smaller attachments. Additionally, disk I/O speeds greatly impact the throughput when migrating messages with attachments.

• Migration throughput is lower when migrating calendar data, especially repeating calendar events. Large number of reschedules of repeating calendar events dramatically decreases migration throughput as all meeting updates must be processed prior to the data being migrated.

• Large number of entries in the name translation table used to resolve source recipient lists decreases migration throughput.

• Large numbers of personal contact distribution lists, and especially distribution lists with many members, dramatically decreases migration throughput. Lab migration performance does not necessarily provide accurate estimates for production migration performance. The only way of determining the throughput you may achieve in your own environment is to set up and run a proof-of-concept project.

Key Features and Functions

Migrated Data     

• Mail Messages

• Subject, Date, Body, Recipients

• Mail Archives (server & local)

• Mail-in Databases

• Follow-up Flags

• File Attachments

• Doc Links, View Links and Database Links

• Folders and Nested Folders

• Calendar Entries

• Personal Contacts

• Personal Distribution Lists

• Private Distribution Lists

• To-do Lists

• Personal Journal Data (also known as Notebooks)

Data Fidelity

• Names Resolution

• Name Translation

• All Messages Reply-able in Outlook

• Migrates Embedded Images

• Migrates Encrypted Emails (after decrypting them or migrating the encrypted content attached in an .nsf)

• Migrates Attachments

• Retains Formatting of Tables

• Retains Original HTML Formatting

Calendar Fidelity

• Migrates Single and Recurring Meetings

• Migrates Custom and Complex Recurring Meetings

• Migrates all Past and Present Calendar Entries

• Migrates all Rescheduled Calendar Entries

Data Filtering Options

• Filter by Document Type (Mail, Contact, Calendar, Task)

• Filter by Absolute/Relative Dates or Ranges

• Select to Skip a List of Folders (excluding system folders)

• Select to Skip Notes Links

• Filter by Data Quota Limits

Migration Management

• Advanced User Management

• Selective User Migration

• Migration-related Communications

• Scheduled Migrations

• Email Archive Migration Options

• Migration Destination Options

• Room and Resource Migration Options

• Mail File Access and Size Verification

• Migration Pre-processing

• Migration Post-Processing

• Automated or Manual User Provisioning

• Detailed Activity Logging

Migration Throughput

• Built-in Automated Workload Distribution (AWD) Functionality

• Up to 8 GB/hour Migration Throughput per Migration Workstation (actual throughput may vary depending on the environment).