Data Storage & Zipping Techniques

Q. What is AutoZip™ feature?

A. TurboGold’s AutoZip feature dynamically converts Lotus Notes database and mail attachments into industry standard "zip" formats. It reduces disk storage requirements and data communications bandwidth with compression savings averaging 5-to-1.

Q. How are database and mail attachments unzipped?

A. For users running TurboGold, attachments are dynamically converted to native form prior to being launched, detached, or viewed. The document name will not appear to be in zip format if users are running TurboGold. For users not running TurboGold, native zip handlers in Windows ME and Windows XP will be invoked when the attachment is launched. Alternatively, users will need a commercial zip product such as WinZip, PkZip or Zipit to open the attachments.

Q. What is the impact of AutoZip on users?

A. TurboGold’s AutoZip is completely transparent. The process is entirely automatic with no prompting to TurboGold users asking if the attachment should be zipped or unzipped.

Q. How is TurboGold AutoZip enabled on the Notes client?

A. AutoZip is enabled by a switch on the TurboGold client’s "Advanced Configuration" screen. There are two switches; 1) AutoZip Database Attachments and 2) AutoZip Outgoing Mail Attachments. The default for these values will be checked.

Q. How do I enable AutoZip for database attachments?

A. For database applications, the "AutoZip Database Attachments" must be checked as shown in the Stampede TurboGold Notes Advanced Configuration window above. In Notes, the "tgautozip" role must be defined in the Access Control List (ACL) of the database and users accessing that database must be granted that role. The person responsible for the content of the database can accomplish this by setting the "tgautozip" role for "-Default”.

By setting the "tgautozip" role, all attachments to the database will be converted into the "zip" format when they are added. However, there are situations where zipping attachments is not desirable. For example, web users outside the organization may need access to the database attachments and may not wish to go through an additional step of unzipping them. Letting the person responsible for the content of the database decide if attachments should be zipped provides maximum flexibility. This provides a very powerful database policy methodology as the ACL is replicated throughout the organization. When defining the "tgautozip" role, the Advanced ACL setting "Enforce a consistent Access Control List across all replicas of this database” should be checked.



Q. How do I enable AutoZip for outgoing mail?

A. For email applications, TurboGold's "AutoZip Outgoing Mail Attachments" must be checked which compresses all mail attachments to all recipients of the message both within the organization as well as those outside of the organization. If all of the recipients are in the same organization then TurboGold Enterprise Edition will make the operation transparent and automatically zip and unzip all attachments. Recipients outside the organization as well as those inside the organization not yet running TurboGold Enterprise Edition would require an unzipping utility such as WinZip and go through an additional step to access the attachments.

Q. How can I tell if AutoZip is engaging?

A. Follow these steps:

• Open TurboGold and ensure TurboGold is turned on using the gear shift.
• Attach a Word document to a Lotus Notes email message and send it to yourself.
• When received open the email and check the extension on the attachment. It should be a standard “.doc” extension.
• Close the email.
• Open TurboGold and turn TurboGold off using the gear shift
• Reopen the email message and check the extension on the attachment. It should now have ".doc.tgz.zip" appended to the document name.
  

Q. Are there any other conditions where AutoZip will not engage?

A. Yes, two additional conditions exist where AutoZip will not engage:

• Attachment is not compressible.
• TurboGold gearshift is turned off.
  

Q. If I add multiple attachments to the same document, does TurboGold AutoZip compress each attachment?

A. Yes, each attachment is compressed and stored as a separate zip file.

Q. Will TurboGold AutoZip work if I'm disconnected in island mode?

A. Yes, provided that the "tgautozip" role described above defines you for database applications and all your email recipients are in the same organization.

Q. If an email is sent to a non-TurboGold user will the attachments be compressed by AutoZip?

A. Yes, if the recipient is a member of your organization (Note the recipient will need an unzip utility to view the attachments). If the recipient is outside your organization the attachment will not be AutoZipped and will be received as a normal attachment.

Q. How can I measure the overall benefits of AutoZip?

A. The bytes saved by AutoZip are shown in the "Remote Replications" view and the "Inbound Mail Routing" view of tgoldstat.nsf (see below).

Q. How can a user measure the benefits they are receiving from AutoZip?

A. The TurboGold client can view their individual AutoZip savings for replication and online retrievals in the “Stampede TurboGold Notes Acceleration Statistics” screen.

Q. Does AutoZip apply to TurboGold Server-to-Server?

A. Yes, if TurboGold Enterprise Edition's AutoZip Server utility is run on an existing database, TurboGold Server-To-Server will propagate the zipped attachments throughout the enterprise without introducing significant communication overhead by invoking patent pending optimization methods.

Q. If I am adding documents to a local replica and TurboGold is turned on will they be compressed by AutoZip?

A. Yes provided the "tgautozip" role described above is defined in the Access Control List (ACL) for you. For email, all recipients must belong to the same organization.

Q. When using AutoZip, I’ve noticed my TurboGold client statistics are way down. Why is this?

A. TurboGold’s client statistics are designed to measure data communications savings resulting from dynamic compression. Since AutoZip compresses attachments as they are sent, the savings reflected in the client statistics are diminished but are nonetheless realized as a result of less data needing to be transferred.

Q. In an existing database, can TurboGold AutoZip provide the means to convert all the attachments to ".zip" and vice-versa?

A. Yes, a server add-in task will allow you to convert existing attachments of a database into zip format.

Q. How do I disable AutoZip for a single document?

A. When attaching a document, Notes automatically displays the “Create Attachment(s)” dialog box. In the lower right corner of this dialog box is a "Compress" switch which is on by default. For a single document uncheck this box and TurboGold AutoZip will not engage.