Port 1352

You are probably already familiar with the advanced database property, "Don't allow simple search," introduced in Domino 8.  However, you might not realize that it is one of a few database properties that does not replicate.  So, if your intent is to set that property for any additional replica(s), you'll need to set it there, too.

According to this technote, the following database properties do not replicate (those marked with "**" are a special case).

BASICS TAB    
Replication settings
Encryption settings
Disable background agents for this database
   
DESIGN TAB    
List in Database Catalog**
Show in 'Open Database' dialog**
Do not mark modified documents as unread
Include in multidb indexing**
   
ADVANCED TAB - don't get beat by the beanie
Don't allow simple search (release 8)
Don't overwrite free space
Disable transaction logging
Don't allow headline monitoring

 ** It has been discovered that, in some cases, these three particular design settings do not replicate. This issue has been reported to Quality Engineering as SPR #GAPN79BQ3F and is under investigation. The issue has been reproduced in Domino 6.5.6 and 8.x.

One of these things is not like the others... 

Can you spot the difference?  I knew that you could.

Yep, X.PC goes the way of the Dodo in Notes/Domino 8.5. 

Here's how the Admin help sums it up:
Support for direct dialup modem (X.PC) connections is available only in releases of Domino earlier than release 8.5. You may continue to use Domino Administrator 8.5 to configure and maintain direct dialup modem support, but only on servers running pre-8.5 releases.

So, those of you out there that are still relying on XPC to connect users to servers or servers to servers (yes, I confess I was forced to connect two servers via dialup as a long term (and long distance) solution once myself  *shudder*), you'll need to make a few changes before your 8.5 rollout.

PS.  I almost titled this entry, Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep boop, WeeeeRRRR waaaaaa crrrrrrrrrrr, but my modemese is a little rusty. 

By definition, Sametime Entry 8.0.x only permits connections from a limited scope of client types.  If you are piloting Notes 8.5 (or are, like most Mac OS X users I've encountered, using Notes 8.5 beta in production) you'll need to append ",1333" to the VPS_ALLOWED_LOGIN_TYPES= line in the Sametime Entry server's sametime.ini.

Without this modification, the integrated client will refuse to connect, generating a somewhat misleading message: "Unable to access Sametime.  Please try again later."

Perhaps the error message will eventually be improved to something like: "The Lotus Notes version you are using is not permitted to use the specified Sametime server."