Communified.net Blog : Office Communications Server 2007

OCS Certificate Deployment White Paper

Sander van den Burg — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:26:00 GMT

Microsoft has just released a new white paper on using certificates with Office Communications Server. Although entitled "OCS 2007 R2 Deploying Certificates" it actually covers both 2007 and 2007 R2 versions of OCS.

This is a very comprehensive document (just short of 100 pages) that covers everything from basic requirements down to specific scenarios like sample LCSCMD commands for requesting certificates for a reverse proxy. A number of the common problems and misunderstood areas have been addresses in much more detail and the original planning and deployment documents, so we highly recommend reading through this document.

The white paper can be downloaded directly from the link below:

Deploying Certificates in Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 R2

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=163083

Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Marco van Olst — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:08:00 GMT

Following on the heels of success of the Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer (created by Shawn McGrath and Brad Hughes), Premal Gandhi, Matthew Fresoli and Jason Stine have been busy designing and writing a complimentary tool: The Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer.

The tool is available at https://www.TestOcsConnectivity.com

Overview:
The Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer is a web site for IT Administrators to validate and diagnose end-to-end Office Communications Server scenarios. The site simulates multiple Office Communications Server client access scenarios from outside the customer’s infrastructure and reports whether the test was successful. If the test fails, we inform the IT Admin exactly where in the process it failed as well as provide troubleshooting tips on resolving the issue.

In this beta version, the tool provides the following end-to-end tests:

· Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity

· Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity w/AutoDiscover

Coming Soon:
Office Communications Server scenarios will be expanded in the next few months to include the following:

· Deeper level of diagnostic information - MSDiagnostics header

· More detailed troubleshooting information based on MSDiagnostic header

· Additional tests

With thanks to Jason Stine sharing his knowledge

MCM Office Communications Server The Final Part

Marco van Olst — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:35:00 GMT

So I am back home after three intensive weeks of training and study, and again a Jetlag due to the 9 hours time difference.
But this Wednesday we received the final results of the third written exam and the qualifying lab, and…. I passed them both.
Which means I can call myself, and eight others, a MCM Office Communications Server right now.
And was it worth the expense in time and money? Yes It does, its intensive that’s for sure, but the amount of knowledge you obtain during this weeks is huge, not only by consuming the training material but also to listen to and learn from all the experience of all the other attendants with all kind of backgrounds. And of course, not to forget, all the info we received from the OCS product managers, MSIT, the OCS Documentation team. And last but not least, the effort Adrian MacLean put in as Program Manager of the MCM OCS. Especially his weekly trips to the Safeways, to provide us with enough “energy” food by means of chips, cookies, chocolate, tootsie rolls etc.
The picture below was taken between the third exam and the qual lab at the last Saturday, quite relaxed people?!?! And also, as it is a miracle, taken at one of the rare sunny days at Redmond:-)

Public IM Connectivity - How to configure

Sander van den Burg — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:06:00 GMT

What is PIC? Public IM Connectivity is the ability for an on-premise OCS 2007 install base to communicate with cloud services such as MSN, AOL, and Yahoo.

It provides the ideal connection between on-premises OCS and worldwide public IM networks. Today MSFT provide these services as part of an agreement with AOL, Yahoo, and MSN which is subscription based.

In a scenario where 5000 users wish to communicate with Windows Live, AOL, and Yahoo based users with OCS they would need 5000 licenses regardless of how many public world users they communicate with. They may have 50,000 or 100,000 public IM users in different cloud services but they can communicate with them all with 5000 subscription licenses. The tricky part is how-to-config this:

Step 1: The licenses must be purchased through your LAR (your reseller).

Part Number Description
A9S-00005 Office LCS Connct Pblc IM AllLang MnthlySub MVL Per User

Step 2: Activate. After the order is processed the specified contact on the agreement will receive an email with instructions on how to activate the licenses using the online services portal.

You must activate the online service at: https://licensing.microsoft.com/eLicense/L1033/Default.asp

Activation requires the following information:

Consolidated Edge FQDN
Primary SIP domain
additional domains
contact information.

Step 3: Wait. It will take a few weeks before the authorization and FQDN are processed by AOL, MSN, and Yahoo.

Step 4: Configure. Consolidated Edge for PIC Federation.

Configure Edge Server and enable federation.

MCM Office Communications Server Part 4

Marco van Olst — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:13:00 GMT

It's finished!! Today we completed the third and final week of the MCM Program.
And the score untill today? I passed exam one and two. Today, saturday, we had to complete the two final exams. At eight we started with the third written examen, followed by the Qual Lab Exam. I completed all the goals we had to achieve at the lab in time, so this part looks good. The final results will follow next week

What else did we do this week? We had a visit of some guys from Polycom and Tandberg who showed us their fancy equipment, and how they think it will be usefull in an OCS environment. Again we had the opportunity to meet some of the OCS product managers. And besides that of course all the regular lessons

Tomorrow I will be flying home to The Netherlands, pretty tired and exhausted, but also with a feeling of satisfaction.

The pictures I included are from my appartment building at the Trails of Redmond, just beside the Microsft Campus. So this was my home for the past three weeks.

Unified Communications Training kit

Marco van Olst — Sun, 10 May 2009 07:21:00 GMT

Microsoft released some nice pieces of training material related to Unified Communications.
This set consists of all kind of material, like posters, QRC's, stickers, etc. that supports your transition to UC.

Unified Communications Adoption and Training Kit 2007 R2

The Unified Communications Adoption and Training Kit for 2007 R2 provides guidance and resources for IT Pros, HelpDesk, and Trainers to speed adoption and usage of Unified Communications technologies in the enterprise. The kit includes Planning Checklists, Awareness materials, including Poster, Door Hangers, and E-mail samples, and User Education Materials such as Quick Reference Cards, Flash Cards, and links to Web-based Training.

Download location:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=eb18d016-64f7-4aae-b491-65636a186c1a&displaylang=en

Unified Communications Training and Adoption 2007/2007 R2 User Awareness and Training Materials

The Unified Communications 2007/2007 R2 User Awareness and Training Materials Kit provides resources for IT Pros, Administrators, or Corporate Trainers to speed the usage and adoption Unified Communications technoligies in the enterprise. Materials in the kit can be customized to the needs of the company and/or organization. The kit provides the following materials: Awareness Materials - Posters, Web Banners, Door Hangers, and Stickers Training Materials Quick Reference Cards, Tips & Tricks Cards, and links to Web-based Training, Getting Started Tours, and Office Online Help and How-to's.

Download location:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9A599B27-EAA4-47F6-9672-D221242F1404&displaylang=en

PS.
To my direct colleagues, I did the download of almost 1,7 GB and posted it in our Groove environment.

MCM Office Communications Server Part 3

Marco van Olst — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:49:00 GMT

And we fullfilled week two of the MCM program. I now know for sure that life is
much more fun without a Jetlag. So this week felt less harder.
So what did we do this week? Of course we had our first exam on Monday. And today we received the results, and.......................................................
I passed the first exam, so only three to go.

On Wednesday we had a lunchmeeting with the OCS documentation team.
We all agreed that they 've done a pretty good job in regards to the OCS documentation.
But the most of us had the same number one on our wishlist, why isn't there a huge colorfull, A0/A1 format, diagram of the OCS Components, just like the beautifull Exchange Server en Server 2008 diagrams.

During lunchtime on friday we went to "The Commons" a relatively new part of the Microsoft campus on the other side of the 520 highway, in The Commons is the Visitor centre located and....................... The Company Store, so shopping time.
With a few dollars left, we took our lunch in "The Mixer", a kind of in-company shoppingmall with al kind of restaurants and shops.

Friday evening was Karting time, MCM OCS against the MCM Exchange and MCM Directory groups. Of course there was no doubt about who whould win this race, after all OCS does everything in Real Time, so a OCS paticipant on the 1st and the 3th place, not bad at all Although it didn't depend on me, I am a lousykarter, I prefer a real car like my Alfa

One week to go, with the second exam this monday and two on next saturday.

MCM Office Communications Server Part 2

Marco van Olst — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:22:00 GMT

So week one of the MCM OCS is finished, On monday we started with 16 people from all over the world..
One from Austria, France, New Zealand two from Canada, and the rest from the US of A and of course me from The Netherlands.
I will not mention the content of the first week, but for sure we had to consume a huge ammount of information, most days started at 8AM and finished at 8PM, and of course this saturday we had a labtime day.
Last wednesday evening we had a "wine and dine" with the OCS Product Managers, wich was of course quite interesting. Finally we had the opportunity to give our comments and recommendations about how the ideal OCS environment sould look like in lets say "Wave 14"
Sunday we have a day off, get some extra sleep, not to much, because the first exam is scheduled this Monday at 8AM.

Up to week 2!!

MCM Office Communications Server

Marco van Olst — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:08:00 GMT

On Monday the 27th of April I am going to start attending the MCM program of Office Communications Server.
So my main working area in the upcomming three weeks will be building 11 at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond.
In the mean time I stay at the Redmond Trail appartments, just beside the MSFT area.
And of course, and if I can find the time, I try to share some of my personal experiences at this blog.

Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server (FSOCS) RTM Now Available!

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:38:00 GMT

FSOCS provides fast and effective protection against IM-based malware for OCS 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 environments by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. FSOCS also helps reduce corporate liability by blocking instant messages containing inappropriate content.

This release includes:

64bit support
Support for OCS 2007 R2
Support for OCS 2007 Enterprise Edition server roles
Integration with OCS 2007 Access Edge role to protect corporate IM from external public IM threats
Localization in 11 languages

Continue at source