November, 2010

FYI – the Lync Server 2010  180-day evaluation bits are slated to be available on November 17th which is Lync launch day. You can grab them here on the 17th.

The question I get asked is can you upgrade these bits to production bits at a later point. The answer is yes.

How do I do this?

1) Install Lync Eval RTM bits

2) When the volume license bits for Lync RTM production bits become available, download them and install them overtop of the trial bits.

3) From command line run: “msiexec.exe /fvomus server.msi EVALTOFULL=1 /qb  where server.msi = licensed Lync Server media

4) From powershell run: “enable-cscomputer”

Thanks to Andrew Sniderman for the answer!

With our upcoming Office365 cloud service, Lync Online will be a part of the offering.  I have had a few education customers ask me what the differences will be. I found this useful matrix (note: this is a Lync Online beta feature matrix and subject to change):

From the Beta Lync Online Service description document here. Note: there is also a matrix for Beta Exchange 2010 Online vs. Exchange 2010 on prem comparison matrix.

I get asked this quite often. The answer is Lync 2010 and Lync Server 2010 both have 508 VPATs available here.

A couple of examples shown below:

Support for high contrast

Lync voice also allows for TTY users.

For more on the accessibility features see the Lync  product team’s blog post here.

One of my customers recently asked me about group policies and Office Communicator. With Lync 2010 these traditional group policy settings are now accomplished via in-band provisioning or server-based client policies. Keep in mind there are still some group policy settings that are still required for bootstrapping but beyond that we have moved to server-side provisioning. Lync client provisioning is done via powershell cmdlets or by using the Lync Server Control Panel.

Most of the CSClientPolicy parameters correspond to the OCS 2007 R2 Group policy settings.

In-band provisioning settings that are server-based provide a consistent end-user experience for people who are not joined to the campus domain, or who join using devices or remote clients. This helps management in our schools that have a huge portion of the workstations as unmanaged. As a plus these settings are taken immediately vs. logout and login again.

Lots of policies can be set including:

AudioVideoBirate

AllowCallForwarding

EnableP2PVideo

IM archiving

Calendar State Publication

DisableFreeBusyInfo,

etc.

I started to research in-band provisioning and did find an article by one of my peers here. Thanks Daniel!

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 requires either full hardware load balancers to be leveraged for a redundant production rollout or leverage  the new option which is a combination of hardware load balancers for DCOM and web traffic combined with DNS load balancing for the remaining Lync traffic. See Greg’s post here for more on using DNS load balancing with Lync Server 2010.

For a list of Microsoft UC qualified load balancers visit here. This list will be updated for Lync Server 2010 in the near future. There are several excellent HWLB partners slated for Lync Server 2010 qualification. F5 has developed a Lync Server 2010 deployment guide for customers and you can grab it here under ‘Microsoft’.

If your Lync server deployment route is heading towards a HWLB only deployment, below are a couple of F5 (hardware load balancer) deployment scenarios (screen shots from the F5 Lync Server 2010 deployment guide):

Some other useful information from the  F5 deployment guide is around ports, persistence, SNAT needed is listed in the matrices below:

For Lync Edge server load balancer settings for EXTERNAL NIC (from F5 deployment guide):

For Lync Edge server load balancer for INTERNAL NIC (from F5 deployment guide):

For Lync Front End  server load balancer settings (from F5 deployment guide):

For Lync Director server load balancer settings (from F5 deployment guide):

The Lync product team came out with my favorite protocol style of poster for Lync Server 2010. Perfect for your cube or wall!. Check out some snips from it below:

View or grab poster with zoom it or download it

There is also the new Lync Server 2010 Tech Center on TechNet.

Grab the new Lync Server 2010 planning, deployment, migration, operations guides along with the complete Lync Server powershell cmdlet reference all in one searchable CHM file here. A Lync administrator’s must have file on the desktop.

Some nice animated Lync videos on Lync Server 2010 setup and migration from OCS 2007 R2 here: First run videos

Official Lync Server 2010 RTM documentation is now available here at  Lync Server 2010 Technical Library. The repository for all the official Lync Server 2010 documentation.

Cool Lync blogs to check out:

• Next Hop – has great rollup information and product team posts
• Lync Server 2010 Powershell blog – has some awesome scripts and information on the cmdlets you can leverage to manage Lync Server.

With the RTM release of Lync Server 2010, I have been asked by several education customers what they can do now to get ready for Lync Server 2010.  I put together a few items which can be helpful for you:

Step1: Read and read some more (note: these are release candidate documents and should be updated soon)

A wide variety of sources for reading on Lync Server 2010 you can start with:

1) Lync Server 2010 Getting Started document here.

2) Grab all the Lync Server 2010 planning guides with the following:

Determining Your Infrastructure Requirements for Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for Archiving Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for Clients and Devices Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for Enterprise Voice Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for External User Access Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for IM and Conferencing Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for Other Features Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

Planning for Your Organization Lync Server 2010 (RC).doc

Download

3) View latest Lync Server reference links here as it gets updated in the next few weeks.

Step 2: Build a non-production lab for Lync Server 2010

I recommend a non-production lab to ensure you are familiar with installation components, prereqs, etc.

1) Read the Lync Hardware Requirements document here.

2) Grab the Lync Server 2010 planning tool here to plan out your Lync infrastructure.

3) Download the RC bits for Lync Server 2010 here.   The final release bits should be available for labs around November 17th. Check for them here.

4) Follow the step by step Lync Server 2010 Lab installation guide here.

Step 3: Begin to assess current infrastructure

1) If you have OCS or OCS R2, I would run the OCS Best Practices Analyzer tool to ensure everything is healthy prior to deploying Lync Server 2010. Grab it here. Once it is installed, run “Check for Updates” as there are newer rules/checks available for R2. Clean up any glaring errors as Lync may check for some of these during setup and not allow you to continue.

2) Assess your current Active Directory environment. The following are supported for Lync Server 2010:

For Domain Controllers:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system
• Windows Server 2008 operating system
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-Bit
• The 32-bit or 64-bit versions of the Window Server 2003 R2 operating system
• The 32-bit or 64-bit versions of the Windows Server 2003

For Domain and Forest levels:

• All must be raised to a domain functional level of Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2. You cannot deploy Lync Server 2010 in a Windows 2000 mixed, Windows 2000 native, or Windows 2003 interim domain
• All forests must be raised to a forest functional level of Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2
• You cannot deploy Lync Server 2010 in a Windows 2000 mixed, Windows 2000 native, or Windows 2003 interim forest

Type of AD topologies:

• Single forest with single domain
• Single forest with a single tree and multiple domains
• Single forest with multiple trees and disjoint namespaces
• Multiple forests in a central forest topology
• Multiple forests in a resource forest topology

In upcoming posts, we will include information around Lync Server setup, coexistence, etc.

Are your employees as connected, collaborative, and productive as they could be? Find out at the virtual launch of Lync, the next generation of Microsoft^® Office Communicator 2007 R2, Microsoft^® Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft^® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 happening on November 17, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

At the Lync virtual launch you'll:

• Hear from Microsoft partners about the value they're already experiencing.
• Join us as keynote speakers Chris Capossela, Senior Vice President of the Information Worker Product Management Group at Microsoft, and Gurdeep Singh Pall, Corporate Vice President of the Office Communications Group at Microsoft, discuss how Microsoft Lync can help businesses enhance productivity by delivering a truly integrated communications experience.
• Watch video sessions on a variety of important topics impacting your business today.
• Participate in live Q&As, blogs, and chats.

Don't miss it! Find out how Lync is transforming unified business communications—connecting people in new ways, anytime and anywhere.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/lync/default.aspx

In case you missed this post by the product team they have posted an updated architecture poster which is a perfect geek poster for your cube or wall. I really like these type of big picture diagrams and if you do as well you can grab it here.  Here are some snapshots from the poster:

Grab the shapes here.