Our Current BES server has Domino 6.5.3 and BES 4.0 HF2 on it as well as SQL 2000 SP3. I have been asked to install a backup/redundant server to make our platfrom more secure and reliable.

We currently have a separate router server sitting in a DMZ that is natted back to the main BES server.

Any advice on how to best handle this task will be appreciated.

There are 3 ways to accomplish this...
1. Backup/Restore....can also be used to migrate the BES onto new hardware
Downside to this is....Very resource intensive; data is only as current as the last backup; users might have docs orphaned

2. Standby server...kept up-to-date using replication; allows for a more up-to-date restore than backup; useful for disaster recovery
Downside....requires many steps to get up and running and is dependent on the last replication time; essentially the same approach as clustering without its advantages.

3. Clustering....minimal intervention needed to failover
Downside...requires additional license(s) to create the cluster

The critical data that needs to be backedup:
NBES.exe Lotus\Domino
notes.ini Lotus\Domino
BES db templates Lotus\Domino\BES
BBProfiles.ntf
BBSD.ntf
BES server dbs Lotus\Domino\BES
BlackProfiles.nsf
State\......
Server ID file Lotus\Domino\Data
BES server registry settings HKLM\Software\Research in Motion
Log files
MS SQL db BESMgmt.mdf & ldf files
Do you have the domino maintenance guide? It describes the the methods.

I dont have the Domino guide's currently but suppose I can find them if they are RIM documents. Im looking for the a good approach to do this to help minimize downtime should I have an issue with the current server.

The Lotus Notes admin is an excellent resource and helped me tremendously with the initial install.

Approach the BES server as if were an ordinary domino server. The main files all reside in the BES\, Data\ and Domino\directories. Once you can maintain replicas of these on another domino server (standby) with the BES task removed from the notes.ini to prevent accidental startup that should be ok. The next concern is the config db which you can backup using your current backup process (if available). The config db is not considered a transactional db, i.e. it does not change at a high frequency, only when new users or IT policies are added/modified.
I can send you the docs if you can't get them at RIM's site.

Since you are choosing to be so helpful I would appreciate if you send them to me very much.

I will pm my email add to you.

Thanks again