Chapter 9: Planning for Group Chat

Microsoft Lync Server 2010

Published: November 2010

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Contents
Planning for Group Chat...............................................................................................................4 Overview of Group Chat............................................................................................................4 Defining Your Requirements for Group Chat.............................................................................4 Components and Topologies for Group Chat.............................................................................5 Technical Requirements for Group Chat....................................................................................9 Group Chat Deployment Overview..........................................................................................11

Planning for Group Chat

You can use Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat to enable multiple users to participate in conversations in which they post and access content for specific topics, including text, links, and files. Although users can all be active during a session and communicate in real time, the content of each session can be persistent, which means it continues to be available after a session ends.

In This Section
Overview of Group Chat Defining Your Requirements for Group Chat Components and Topologies for Group Chat Technical Requirements for Group Chat Group Chat Deployment Overview

Overview of Group Chat

Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat enables you to participate in multi-party, topic-based conversations that persist over time. Lync Server 2010, Group Chat can help organizations do the following: Improve communication between geographically dispersed and cross-functional teams. Broaden information awareness and participation. Improve communication with your extended enterprise. Reduce information overload. Improve information awareness. Increase dispersion of important knowledge and information.

To enable chat rooms in Lync Server 2010, deploy the Group Chat feature. If users are enabled for Lync Server 2010 and Lync Server 2010 support is deployed, they can install and use Lync Server 2010 to provide chat room support. Lync Server 2010, Group Chat supports federated user access. Using the Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool, it is possible to explicitly provision federated users for access to specific chat rooms. Lync Server 2010 also supports Lync Server instant messaging (IM) and presence. The content of IM is not persistent. Lync Server 2010 IM and presence features and functionality are the same as those provided by Microsoft Lync 2010, except that Lync Server 2010 instant messaging does not support multi-party IM. For details about IM and presence support available to Lync Server users, see Planning for IM and Presence.

Defining Your Requirements for Group Chat

With Group Chat, users can do the following: Improve communication between geographically dispersed and cross-functional teams. By using Group Chat, teams can efficiently share information, ideas, and decisions as a group.

The messages posted to chat rooms (discussion forums) can be persistent, so that people from different locations and departments can participate, even when they are not all online at the same time. When a user connects to a chat room, a configurable number of chat history messages are automatically loaded in Group Chat to give the user a context for the conversation. Improve communication with an extended enterprise. By using the federation capabilities of Group Chat, business partners, customers, and vendors can join chat rooms and participate in shared, group discussions with enhanced security. Improve information awareness. By using filters, users can define conditions, such as keywords in message content or the value of the from field in a message, to receive notification when those conditions are met in Group Chat instant messaging (IM) or chat room messages. Increase dispersion of important knowledge and information. Documents and links can be included within discussions for access by all the team. By posting questions to a broader team, users can benefit from responses by subject matter experts. Integration with other information systems allows for important organizational data to be easily communicated to large groups. Group Chat content can also be archived (to meet requirements such as compliance). Chat room archiving requires deploying the Group Chat Compliance Server. Archiving of instant messages in Group Chat is available if Lync Server 2010 is set up to support archiving. For details about archiving, see Planning for IM and Presence. If your organization must follow compliance regulations, you can deploy Archiving Server to enable archiving support for Lync Server 2010 IM and conferencing. Before you deploy Group Chat Server, you must determine the following for your organization: Which sites and users in your organization require Group Chat support. Whether to enable Group Chat for internal communications (that is, chat rooms between internal users), external communications (that is, chat rooms that include at least one federated user outside your organization), or both. How your Group Chat deployment affects presence privacy mode. For details about Lync Server 2010 presence privacy policies, see Lync 2010 Group Chat and Privacy Mode in the Deploying Group Chat documentation. Additionally, you must determine the specific policies and other support options that you want to implement.

Components and Topologies for Group Chat

To participate in multiparty, topic-based conversations that persist over time in Microsoft Lync Server 2010, make sure that you effectively deploy Lync Server 2010, Group Chat. Group Chat Server supports both single-server and multiple-server configurations. These configurations consist of the following Group Chat Server components and topologies.

Group Chat Components

A Group Chat installation includes the following components:

Client computers that are running Microsoft Lync 2010 Group Chat

One or more servers that are running Lync Server 2010, Group Chat, each running a Group Chat Server that consists of the following services: Lookup service Channel service Web service

A computer that hosts the SQL Server back-end database Note: The back-end database stores chat history data, information about categories and chat rooms that are created, user provisioning information from the Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool and initial sign-in, and basic configuration information about the Group Chat Server.

If compliance is required, the single-server topology must also include the following: Compliance service A SQL Server database for compliance data, which can be the same as the Group Chat database. To administer Group Chat from a separate computer (such as an administrative console), you need to install Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool on the computer. All these computers must be deployed in an Active Directory domain, with at least one global catalog server in the forest root.

Group Chat Topologies

Group Chat supports both single-server and multiple-server topologies. For details about hardware and software requirements for the Group Chat Server, see Technical Requirements for Group Chat. The following sections describe both of these topologies, as well as a topology for supporting clients in a federated domain. Single-Server Topology The minimum configuration and simplest deployment for Group Chat is single-server topology. This deployment requires a single server that runs Group Chat Server, a computer that hosts the SQL Server database, computers that host Lync 2010 Group Chat clients, and, if compliance is required, a computer that hosts the Compliance service and a database that stores the compliance data. The following figure shows all required and optional components of a topology with a single Group Chat Server Compliance service with a separate compliance database.

Single Group Chat Server

Multiple-Server Topology To provide more capacity and increased reliability, your topology can include multiple Group Chat Servers. A multiple-server deployment is the same as the single-server topology, except that multiple computers host the Group Chat Server. The following figure shows all the components of a pooled topology with multiple Group Chat Servers and the optional Compliance service and separate compliance database.

Multiple Group Chat Servers

Multiple-server topologies provide pooling of server functionality. In a server pool, the Lookup services and Channel services communicate and share data. For example, chat history that was originally logged on one Channel service is available from any Channel service in the system. A file that is uploaded through one Channel service can be accessed by any Channel service. Connecting a server to a server pool requires specification of a port. The default port is 8011. A different port can be specified during installation. You can also use the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Configuration Tool to change it after installation. To configure settings in a multiple-server, pooled environment, use the Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Configuration Tool as follows: Pool-wide settings can be configured from any server in the pool.

Server settings can only be configured on the individual server.

Note: Computers included in a pooled environment should be in the same subnet. Group Chat does not support configurations where computers are in different subnets because of the possible presence of firewalls separating the computers. Topology for Supporting Clients in Federated Domains Users in federated domains can participate in group chat sessions and IM sessions in your organization, if the users in the federated domains are running the Group Chat client on their client computers and the federated partner has deployed the following: Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition server or Front End pool Lync Server 2010 Edge Servers in the perimeter network

It is not necessary for the federated partner to install Group Chat Server locally. This would be necessary only if the federated partner wants to host their own chat rooms. Clients in a federated domain use the Channel service and Lookup service in your enterprise, if your organization has configured Lync Server 2010 and Group Chat to support federated users.

Technical Requirements for Group Chat

Each server that will host Group Chat Server must have access to an existing Lync Server 2010 topology with the following components: Lync Server 2010 Front End Server The Front End Server enables communication between the Group Chat Admin Tool and the Group Chat Server components. Before you begin to deploy Group Chat, verify the deployment of Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition, or an Lync Server 2010 Front End pool, as well as other internal Lync Server 2010 servers, as appropriate to your organization. At least one global catalog server in the forest root All other Active Directory infrastructure requirements are the same as for Lync Server 2010. Lync Server 2010 Edge Servers Edge Servers are required to enable communication with federated partners and other users who are not on the internal network. If your organization wants internal users to be able to include users outside the internal network to participate in group chat sessions, verify that the appropriate Edge Servers are deployed in the perimeter network. At a minimum, this includes the following services: Lync Server Access Edge service Lync Server Web Conferencing Edge service

The following sections describe the specific requirements for the Group Chat Server and the database that stores the Group Chat data.

Group Chat Server Requirements

The recommended hardware to deploy Lync Server 2010 and Group Chat Server is in Server Hardware Platforms in the Supportability documentation.

The server and tools operating system support for Lync Server 2010 and Group Chat Server is in Server and Tools Operating System Support in the Supportability documentation. See the following table for additional software required for deploying Group Chat Server. Server Software Prerequisites
Software Description

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0

Manages the execution of the program. During the installation of Group Chat, if this version or a later version of the software is not already installed on the computer, Group Chat installs it. Hosts the Web service for posting files to chat rooms. Windows Server 2008 users must enable the IIS 6.0 Compatibility feature. Used to build dynamic websites, web applications, and XML Web services. ASP.NET 2.0 is a web application. Used by the Group Chat Compliance service, if deployed. Implements additional Web service specifications in areas including security, reliable messaging, and sending attachments. WSE is required on the Group Chat Server only, not the Compliance service. WSE is an add-on to the .NET Framework.

Internet Information Services (IIS)

ASP.NET 2.0

Message Queuing Microsoft Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 3.0

When the .NET Framework is installed on a computer with an existing .NET Framework installation, most Microsoft ASP.NET applications update to use the newly installed version. The exception is an application bound to a version of the .NET Framework that is either an incompatible version or a later version. If it cannot successfully run on a later version, configure the ASP.NET application to use an earlier version. Group Chat also requires two components that are automatically installed when you install Group Chat Server, if they are not already installed on the computer. These components include the following. Required Software That Is Automatically Installed
Component Description

Visual C ++ 2008 Redistributable Runtime version 9.0.2102

The libraries required to run applications developed with the Microsoft Visual C++ development system on a computer that does not have Visual C++ 2008 installed. During the installation of Group Chat Server, if this version

Component

Description

or a later version of the software is not already installed on the computer, Group Chat Server installs it. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) v2.0 Redist 3.5.6774.0 Used in creating SIP clients and SIP servers. During the installation of Group Chat Server, if this version or a later version of the software is not already installed on the computer, Group Chat Server installs it.

Group Chat Database Requirements

Group Chat Server uses the Group Chat database to store chat history, configuration, user provisioning data and, optionally, compliance data. You can also use a separate compliance database to support compliance. To prepare a database server platform, ensure that each computer meets the hardware requirements and then install the prerequisite software. The server platform for the Group Chat Server database servers requires the same hardware as the Lync Server 2010 back-end database server. For details, see Server Hardware Platforms. On the database server, ensure that the following software is installed: Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later version. SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with Service Pack 2 (SP2). For details about how to install SQL Server 2008, see Installing SQL Server 2008 at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/? LinkId=139335. For details about how to install SQL Server 2005, see Installing SQL Server 2005 at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139333.

Group Chat Deployment Overview

Deployment of Lync Server 2010, Group Chat requires that you deploy it in the correct sequence and that you complete all required deployment steps.

Deployment Sequence
You can deploy Group Chat Server after you deploy your initial topology, including at least one Front End pool or one Standard Edition server. This document describes how to deploy Group Chat Server by adding it to an existing deployment.

Group Chat Server Deployment Process

The following table lists the basic steps to deploy Group Chat Server and provides associated links to more information.

Group Chat Server Deployment Process

Phase Steps Roles and group memberships Documentation

Install prerequisite hardware and software

On hardware that meets system requirements, install the following: An operating system that meets system requirements. Software prerequisites for all Lync Server 2010 servers.

Domain user who is a member of the local Administrators group

Supported Hardware in the Supportability documentation. Server Software and Infrastructure Support in the Supportability documentation. Determining Your System Requirements in the Planning documentation. Technical Requirements for Group Chat in the Planning documentation.

Create SQL Server database

Log on to the server that will host the database, and then create a new database. 1. Set up and enable accounts for Group Chat Server. 2. Set up SQL Server accounts and permissions. 3. Enable the Lookup server account for federation.

Database administrator Preparing Server Platforms in the Supportability documentation. Administrators group Setting Up Group Chat Server Accounts and Permissions in Deployment documentation.

Set up Group Chat Server accounts and permissions

Obtain certificates for Group Chat Server

1. Download the certification authority (CA) certification path. 2. Install the CA certification path. 3. Request the

Administrators group

Obtaining Certificates for Group Chat Server in the Deployment documentation.

Phase

Steps

Roles and group memberships

Documentation

certificate. 4. Install the certificate. 5. Verify the root CA. Install Group Chat Server 1. Install the Group Chat Server in a singleserver topology or the first Group Chat Server in a multiple-server topology. 2. Install additional Group Chat Servers for a multiple-server topology. Configure Web service settings in IIS 1. Open IIS Manager. 2. Ensure that the Enable Anonymous Access check box is selected. 3. Specify the credentials for an account that has read/write permissions on the file repository folder. Install and connect the Group Chat Admin Tool 1. Install the Administrators group Group Chat Admin Channel service Tool. administrator 2. Configure the Group Chat Admin Tool connection. Any user who is Administrators group Installing and Connecting to the Group Chat Admin Tool in the Deployment documentation. Administrators group Configuring Web Service Settings in IIS in the Deployment documentation. Administrators group Installing Group Chat Server in the Deployment documentation.

Configure Group

Configuring Group Chat

Phase

Steps

Roles and group memberships

Documentation

Chat Server user access

provisioned for Lync Server 2010 is also provisioned as a Group Chat user. 1. Set up the SQL Server database for compliance. 2. Install the Compliance service.

Server User Access in the Deployment documentation. Database administrator Deploying Compliance Support in the Administrators group Deployment documentation.

Deploy archiving and compliance support