Here are some questions I had from a college in Ohio wanting to plan for Exchange Server 2010:
What does the Exchange 2010 architecture look like?
The 5 Exchange 2010 roles are the same but there are some major changes in the way things work:
Outlook 2007+ MAPI clients now connect through CAS rather than directly to the mail server. CAS also provides access to directories for any Outlook needs.
Plan on scaling out CAS arrays with NLB or HWLB based on the core ratio below.
Hub transport now has a shadow redundancy feature and new dumpster changes.
The shadow redundancy feature would be where a shadow copy of each sent email is retained on the hub and until the hub received a ack of successful delivery. In the example above if Edge1 has a failure after the message has left the hub, the hub would not receive a discard ack and after 3 retries (15 min) the hub transport would then resend the shadow copy of the message to Edge2. It can also work with some downstream MTAs (Exchange, SMTP, etc) where the hub transport can wait for a specified interval for an Ack and resubmit.
The hub also has a new dumpster feature where the hub communicates with the mailbox server around replication and availability status. This communication determines whether or not to purge older messages in the dumpster until all logs have been replicated and communication has been re-established.
What are the beta HW recommendations for ballpark HW estimation? (note: this is with beta and subject to change) :
Client Access Server (CAS)
CAS to Mailbox ratio = 3 : 4 processor cores
8 cores recommended, 2GB RAM per core
Hub Transport server
Hub to Mailbox ratio : 1 : 7 (no A/V on Hub) or 1 : 5 (with A/V Hub) processor cores
4 cores recommended, 1GB RAM per core
Mailbox
4-8 cores, 4GB RAM base + 2-8MB per mailbox based on mail profile
UM
4 cores, 4-8GB RAM total
Edge guidance expected to be very similar to Exchange Server 2007
2 to 4 cores
Global catalog to Mailbox ratio 1 : 4 (32–bit GC) or 1 : 8 (64-bit GC) processor cores
What storage do I need?
Since the IOPS per user is proposed to be another estimated 70% reduction, this translates to several new storage options in Exchange Sever 2010 where you can use cheaper SATA direct attach storage or even JBOD SATA with DAG. See our storage post here.
What a way to start a blog. Geneva. It sounds important and it is. Geneva is the code name for our next generation identity services. At PDC we announced our new identity platform and that Microsoft IT (MSIT) is rolling this out for software corporate wide. Geneva will support 59 identity applications in the cloud with 29 different business partners.
Geneva went into public beta last month. This is the platform we are moving our hosted services to. Today connectivity to Exchange Online is accomplished by using a SSO client that can be used on Windows and Mac clients. This client needs to be installed and configured on each client. The reason for this is that the Exchange Online uses a separate identity system than our customers and you need to authenticate to it via the SSO client. I believe this was a great start to introduce Exchange Online but one that will be shortlived. Geneva is next.
Geneva is made up of a Geneva Server, Geneva Cardspace client, and the Geneva Framework. Also part of the platform is the Microsoft Service Connector, the Microsoft Federation Gateway and the .NET Access Control Service which provide our infrastructure for our cloud services.
How does it work?
1. User clicks link for service
2. User taken to Microsoft Services Connector for authentication
3. Connector validates credentials with Active Directory
4. Microsoft Service Connector issues a login token and redirects to the Microsoft Federation Gateway
5. Gateway validates token and transform claims
6. Federation issues service token a directs to the service
7. user accesses the service.
One of the great things about the use of Geneva is that we have an opportunity to look at Active Directory Federation as well as other identity systems because of our support of WS-* and SAML. Some great documentation on Geneva is posted here on MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287610.aspx
So I look forward to having federation for Exchange Online and other Microsoft cloud services. Stay tuned for more.
Microsoft Press 25th Anniversary "Free E-Book of the Month" Offers This will be our last month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Press with a free e-book offer. This monthly offer can be found in the top right corner of this monthly newsletter. It expires on June 24, 2009, so download the e-books today:
Programming for Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 By Rui Maximo, Kurt De Ding, Vishwa Ranjan, Chris Mayo, Oscar Newkerk, and the Microsoft Office Communications Server team
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit By Rui Maximo, Rick Kingslan, Rajesh Ramanathan, and Nirav Kamdar with the Microsoft Office Communications Server Team Note: You will need to temporarily allow pop-ups in order to download the free e-book offer.
There is nicely written whitepaper to help you troubleshoot and understand how Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging works. I pasted in a few whitepaper highlights below:
Exchange UM architecture:
Shows a nice breakdown of the UM services and worker processes and what they do and how they talk.
UM Call flows:
Has a nice inbound call flow showing the call from either an IP PBX (direct SIP) or legacy PBX (TDM) which requires a SIP gateway to translate TDM to SIP, etc. UM server than does a directory lookup and hands off to the hub server which then routes the voicemail/fax to the inbox.
Here are the basics of a simple Unified Messaging call flow:
Some nice UM troubleshooting basics for example:
When an incoming call to voice mail fails, the problem usually happens at one of the following stages of the call flow:
Troubleshooting Play on Phone:
Important:
The Unified Messaging server and Client Access server use mutual TLS to establish the session. For mutual TLS negotiation, both the Unified Messaging server and the Client Access server must have a certificate that has the corresponding FQDN as the Subject Name or the Subject Alternate Name.
Backing Up a Unified Messaging Server
A backup plan for any organization is critical for maintenance and successful recovery. With the introduction of a Unified Messaging server, you need to incorporate new strategies for backing up that server. This section discusses specific files and data that are relevant only to the Unified Messaging environment. In addition, some disaster recovery techniques are described.
To successfully recover a Unified Messaging server, certain files must be backed up. These files aren't Exchange database files, so they aren't automatically selected if you choose an Exchange-aware backup and use the Exchange option only. You need to do a file-level backup of these files. These files don't need to be backed up every day because they are mostly configuration related. The following files need to be backed up from a Unified Messaging server:
Useful UM PowerShell commands:
Test-UMConnectivity -ListenPort 5060
Get-UMActiveCalls -Server ServerName | export-csv c:\temp\activecalls.csv
UM Diagnostic event logging:
Logging level Value
Expert 7
High 5
Medium 3
Low 1
Lowest 0
Set the following categories to a value of 7 to indicate Expert level logging:
Start Registry Editor (regedit). Scroll to the following keys and then set the value of each key to 7:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\Diagnostics
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMWorkerProcess
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMCore
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMManagement
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMService
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMClientAccess
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange Unified Messaging\UMCallData
Value: Lowest – 0x00000000 (0), Expert – 0x00000007 (7)
How to analyze a UM sniff trace:
INVITE sip:2501@65.53.2.181;transport=tcp SIP/2.0Via: SIP/2.0/TCP 65.53.0.18;branch=z9hG4bKac791424417;aliasMax-Forwards: 70From: <sip:2510@ACGWMP118.req150587.local>;tag=1c741078876To: <sip:2501@65.53.0.18;user=phone>Call-ID: 74107850232200073840@65.53.0.18CSeq: 3 INVITEDiversion: <tel:2501>;reason=no-answerContact: <sip:2510@65.53.0.18;transport=tcp>Supported: em,100rel,timer,replaces,path,resource-priorityAllow:REGISTER,OPTIONS,INVITE,ACK,CANCEL,BYE,NOTIFY,PRACK,REFER,INFO,SUBSCRIBE,UPDATEUser-Agent: Audiocodes-Sip-Gateway-MP-118 FXS_FXO/v.5.00A.035.003Content-Type: application/sdpContent-Length: 227v=0o=AudiocodesGW 741070197 741070070 IN IP4 65.53.0.18s=Phone-Callc=IN IP4 65.53.0.18t=0 0m=audio 6010 RTP/AVP 0 101a=rtpmap:0 PCMU/8000a=rtpmap:101 telephone-event/8000a=fmtp:101 0-15a=ptime:20a=sendrecv
Most of the Unified Messaging call answering issues can be resolved by analyzing the first SIP INVITE request from the IP gateway. The first SIP INVITE request gives you a good idea about the rest of the call flow. Consider the following:
For the full Exchange 2007 UM troubleshooting whitepaper download it here.
Please contact Enabling Technolgies Corporation for evaluations and pricing for OCS- Blackboard Client.
Enabling Technologies Corp.12226 Long Green Pike | Glen Arm, MD 21057info@enablingtechcorp.com
http://www.enablingtechcorp.com/dnn490/
OCS For Blackboard consists of the following:
· Rich Web Client
The Web Client was built using Microsoft .NET and is a sophisticated client that allows users to access many of the OCS features and have relevant information from BB.
· Powerlink Connector to the BlackBoard systemThe BB system has an API that is used to access the core data such as Coarse, Users, Teachers, and Institution. This data is utilized to populate the OCS for BB Web Client with relevant information based on the user's personal information.
In addition this connection to BB allows the OCS for BB to write data and statistics to enable reporting.
Courses and Admin Tabs automatically populate with Teachers from BlackBoard:
When we launched OCS 2007 Rim shipped a client for OCS 2007. This client requires that the customer have a BES Server and a CWA server and used UC AJAX. Since we launched OCS 2007 R2 RIM hasn’t released an update for the software yet. So how do I support Blackberry users in OCS R2?
This has been posted elsewhere but wanted to get info to our education customers.
The Unified Communications (UC) AJAX SDK that is avail for CWA R1 will not be re-released for CWA R2. Therefore customers with UC AJAX apps need to deploy a CWA R1 server.
Migrating from OCS 2007 to OCS 2007 R2:
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Customers who have CWA 2007 successfully deployed against an OCS 2007 server and who want to upgrade to OCS 2007 R2 but want to keep the CWA 2007 server setup to use with their UC AJAX applications must install OCS 2007 R2 into the existing domain. For more information, refer to the OCS deployment guide. Make sure that you leave the existing CWA 2007 server in place. Users should automatically sign in through CWA 2007 to OCS 2007 R2 without any further configuration that is required.
New customers who is installing OCS 2007 R2 for the first time:
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Customers who want to set up CWA 2007 against OCS 2007 R2 starting from a clean environment should follow these steps:
1. Before you install OCS 2007 R2, prepare Active Directory by using OCS 2007 Setup.
2. Install CWA 2007 into the domain.
3. Install OCS 2007 R2. Note For more information, refer to the OCS 2007 R2
Deployment guide. Users should automatically sign in through CWA 2007 to OCS 2007 R2 without any further configuration.
Already have OCS 2007 R2 installed but want to now install CWA 2007:
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New customers (did not have OCS 2007 deployment prior) who have already installed OCS 2007 R2 but now want to deploy CWA 2007 within the environment must follow these steps:
1. You need to perform a Forest Prep and a Domain Prep with the 2007 (R1) RTM Setup, not the command line.
2. You just need to add the OCS 2007 CWA (R1) to an existing R2 pool. No need to create a 2007 (R1) pool.
Done! Hopefully we will see updated guidance on RIM’s site soon. In the meantime enjoy. :)
The Goal of this UC kit is to distribute UC materials and support for 3 key end user groups: IT Professionals, Help Desk teams, and Trainers.
• Training & Adoption Materials for IT Pros, Helpdesk, and Trainers
• Scales Training and Adoption materials to all UC customers
Download the kit here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/communicationsserver/HA103624691033.aspx
Please provide feedback and ways to improve this kit to bhagen@microsoft.com
Content includes:
o IT Pro - Planning Checklist, Benefit Statements, E-Mail Campaign Samples, Success Metrics Examples, and User Education Materials
o Helpdesk - Planning Checklist, Frequently Asked Questions, and Troubleshooting Guides.
o Trainer - Planning Checklist, Quick Reference Cards, Tips and Tricks Flash Cards. How-to's, Getting Started Tours, and Web-based Tutorials and Training