Introduction to Microsoft Lync

Adam Jacobs Lync MVP

@adamjacobs

http://imaucblog.com

adam@imaucblog.com

Agenda

• What is Lync Server?• Technical differentiators between Office

Communications Server (OCS)– Setup and deployment changes– Introducing:• The Central Management Store (CMS)• Call Admission Control (CAC)• Media Bypass

• Futures28/07/2011 Microsoft Unified Communications User Group London (MUCUGL) 2

What is Lync Server?

What is Lync Server?

• Lync not LINQ• The new name for OCS• An IP-PBX or traditional PBX replacement• A new breed of software-based telephony• Fully immersed within your PC or *Mac desktop

user experience – Office, SharePoint & Lync Client• The heart of Microsoft’s UC stack – complimented

by Exchange Server 2007/10 Unified Messaging*Unable to schedule conferences via Mac edition of Outlook

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Office Communications Server

Microsoft®

A PBX companion – high level deliverables include:• Voice calls via existing handsets (RCC) and Communicator/“Optimised

Devices” (EV)• Video calls• IM and presence• Mobility (including IM, presence and single-number reach)• Collaboration (desktop/file sharing, group chat and *dial-in conferencing)

*Office Communications 2007 R2

Then…

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A PBX replacement – via added functionality:• Enhanced resilience - without the need for h/w load balancing (web workloads still

require HLBs)• Survivable Branch Appliance – a purpose-built appliance for branch deployments• Call Admission Control (CAC) – for the prevention of VoIP over subscription• Enhanced 9-1-1 (NA only) – CU1 delivers location functionality• Superior conferencing - voice announcements, lobby and an integrated client! (no

Live Meeting client or Outlook Conferencing add-in)

Microsoft

Lync®

TM

And now…

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Technical differentiators from OCS

• Planning Tool• Export to Topology Builder (.tbxml)

• Topology Builder• Tool used for .tbxml import, topology setup, modification and

validation prior to deploying first server and publishing within the Central Management Store (CMS)

• Communicator Web Access (CWA) depreciated in Lync – OCS 2007 R2 CWA can be deployed

• Call forking is also depreciated, RCC still available for 3rd party PBX integration

Setup, deployment and management changes worth mentioning

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• PowerShell and Silverlight-based Lync Control Panel replaces MMC

• Role-based access control (RBAC) for delegation of specific Lync tasks, incl. 11 out-of-the-box roles

• Mediation role can now be collocated with front end role = minus 1 server

Essentially one Standard Edition Server could support Enterprise Voice, IM, Presence and Conferencing for up to 5000 users!

Setup, deployment and management changes worth mentioning (continued..)

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• Replaces Active Directory for most configuration storage (phone numbers still held within AD)

• The CMS data is held within a SQL database

• Centralises the administration of all Lync Server roles (including Edge servers)

• There is a minimum requirement of 2 x CMS databases - 1 x master (RTC) and 1 x replica (RTCLOCAL)

• RTC and RTCLOCAL databases are replicated

• Resilient architecture – Front End Server CMS (replica) will continue to function where connectivity is lost to the master

Central Management Store (CMS)

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• Put simply CAC is the bandwidth management service built into Lync Server

• CAC bandwidth policies can be set to control

• Audio - max bandwidth (kbps) assigned for all/individual sessions• Video - max bandwidth (kbps) assigned for all/individual sessions

• Policies are applied between sites, where multiple network subnets can be associated

• Alternate routes can be utilised where over-subscription occurs, i.e. when local ISDN is at capacity then a route to PSTN over an Internet based SIP trunk could apply

Call Admission Control (CAC)

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• Media bypass reduces the load on your Mediation servers (allowing support for up to 5000 users, where Front End and Mediation roles are collocated)

• This is achieved by negating the need for transcoding between the Lync client or phone and the voice gateway

• In this scenario the G.711 voice codec is used, instead of RTAudio

• Recommended gateway vendors include AudioCodes, Dialogic, NET and Ferrari

Media Bypass

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Futures

• Mobile clients are expected for:• *iPhone aka “iLync”• *Windows Phone 7• BlackBerry – now available BES v.5.0 SP3• Nokia• Android

*NB Functionality will include:• One-click to join

conference• Single number reach

ETA late 2011

Lync Mobile

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ETA late 2011

Lync for XBOX “videoKINECT”

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Jamie Stark Lync Server Product Manager

Lync Server + Skype = ?

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NextHop: Microsoft and MVP Lync/OCS related technical posts (a couple by me!) - here

NextHop: Lync Server Planning Tool: Design a Site and Create a Topology - here

TechNet: Lync Server TechCenter – here

TechNet: Lync Server 2010 documentation located within the TechNet Library - here

TechNet: Lync Server “First Run” videos - here

TechNet: View the Lync Server Protocol Workloads poster online - here

Microsoft Download Center: Lync Server 2010 documentation (all-in-one CHM!) – here

I’m a UC Blog: Just for fun/lab PSTN break-out – How to integrate Lync Server with Asterisk & Skype – here

I’m a UC Blog: Step-by-step Lync Server installation guide – here

Train Signal Training: Lync Server Video Installation Guide (by yours truly) - here

Resources

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Thank You