Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server Yoav Land VP Technologies – Unitech Microsoft Regional Director

State of Conferencing Today User-to-user solutions are limited User-to-user solutions are limited  Difficult to schedule conferences and locate other users  Meeting scheduler can’t leave meeting  Only 2 video clients at a time  No bandwidth management Server solutions fall short Server solutions fall short  Users have to know network topology  No bandwidth management, load balancing, or failover  H.323 video software doesn’t scale well

Components CMS – Conference Management Service coordinates and manages conferencing technologies and resources, and tracks and controls access to conferences. Conference Technology Provider Data Conferencing Provider- Data Conferencing Provider is a conferencing technology based on the T.120 protocol stack that provides collaboration tools such as those found in Microsoft NetMeeting®. Data Conferencing Provider provides a T.120 multipoint control unit for data conferencing clients.

Video Conferencing Provider – Video Conferencing Provider is a conferencing technology that provides video and audio conferences over multicast-enabled IP networks. Video Conferencing Provider also provides an H.323 bridge that allows H.323 conferencing clients to participate in audio and video conferences. T.120 multipoint control unit (MCU) – The T.120 MCU service runs as a component of Data Conferencing Provider and provides network connections between participants in a data conference. Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol (MADCAP) – Configure the DHCP server to provide Multicast addresses.

Conference calendar mailbox – A conference calendar mailbox is an Exchange 2000 mailbox that stores the definitions and structure of all conferences Conference resources – Conference resources are Exchange 2000 mailboxes that conferencing clients invite when scheduling an online meeting. The conference properties, including the resource used, are stored in the conference calendar mailbox.

H.323 bridge – The H.323 bridge permits NetMeeting clients that are unable to connect directly to multicast conferences to connect through a H.323 unicast session. Codec – A codec (coder/decoder) is any technology for encoding and decoding data.

Voice, Data, Video Conferencing Outlook 2000 integration for easy scheduling Outlook 2000 integration for easy scheduling Data conferencing server (T.120 protocol) Data conferencing server (T.120 protocol)  Application sharing, whiteboarding, chat  Support for any T.120 client IP-Multicast audio-video conferencing IP-Multicast audio-video conferencing  Support for H.323 clients Conference Management Service Conference Management Service  Coordinates conferencing resources  Efficient network utilization  Make virtual meetings easy & reduce travel

Conferencing Server Conference Management Service Conference Management Service  End users can easily schedule meetings from Outlook and join with a single click  Administrators can manage network with tools for load balancing, failover, and network bandwidth restriction Data Conferencing Data Conferencing  Managed T.120-based server for “NetMeetings” with multiple T.120 clients Audio/Video Conferencing Audio/Video Conferencing  Multiple simultaneous video users via IP- Multicast (using TAPI 3.0 in Windows 2000)  Windows 2000 SP1 adds support for Exchange Conferencing bridge to H.323 clients

ECS Components Conference Client Outlook 2000 T.120 Active X Web Browser Exchange 2000 Conference Sever Conference Management Service (CMS) ConferenceCalendarMailboxConferenceCalendarMailbox ConferenceResourceConferenceResourceConferenceResourceConferenceResourceConferenceResourceConferenceResource VideoConference Service Service DataConference Service (DCS) Service (DCS) T.120 MCU H.323 MCU Bridge

Conference Mgmnt Service Unified conferencing client experience Unified conferencing client experience Platform for conference management Platform for conference management  Control meeting lifetime  Support Conference Technology Providers (data, telephone, audio/video)  Integrated reservation and calendaring Management of Meeting Resources Management of Meeting Resources  Scheduling - Publish free/busy  Refer client to conferences

Data Conferencing Integrated into Conference Management Service Integrated into Conference Management Service T.120 multi-point control unit (MCU) T.120 multi-point control unit (MCU)  Application sharing, whiteboarding, chat  Server broadcast data to clients  Conference persistence Additional services Additional services  Topology creation, bridging firewalls  Automatic MCU load-balance/fail-over  Access control, security, encryption

Audio/Video Conferencing Integrated with Conference Management Service Integrated with Conference Management Service Multi-party audio-video conferencing Multi-party audio-video conferencing Participants choose to broadcast their audio and video Participants choose to broadcast their audio and video Participants receive, mix and render all other participants Participants receive, mix and render all other participants Meeting size limited by client Meeting size limited by client

ECS Scalability Conference Management Service Conference Management Service  Central, Per Site, or Hybrid Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 1,500 1,000 2,000 CMS CMS DCS uses dynamic intelligent topology creation for every data conference. Based on complex algorithm. 1 MCU = 500 data users (approx) MCUs  Multiple MCUs / Site (Multipoint Control Units)

More ECS Scalability Uses Multicast IP Technology Uses Multicast IP Technology  What is multicast?  Many hosts sharing single IP to act as one host  Unicast data is sent based on number of participants  Multicast data is sent ONCE  Greatly enhances Video/Audio performance while reducing bandwidth usage MADCAP - Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol

NetMeeting & Exchange Server 5.5 User1 User2 User3 User4 User5 User0 Identical Data Identical Data

ECS 2000 User0 Data Conferencing Server

IP Multicast Conferencing Router 4 User3 User1 User2 User5 User6 Router 5 User4 Router 1 Router 2 Router 3

ECS Resiliency Exchange 2000 Integration Exchange 2000 Integration  Place conferencing objects in separate storage group  Active/Active clustering  Automatic MCU Fail-Over  Backup Inactive CMS MCUs CMS Backup CMS  Multiple MCUs

Scheduling Conferences Scheduling a meeting (Outlook 2000) Scheduling a meeting (Outlook 2000)  Open Outlook 2000 and select “this is an online meeting using”…drop down to Exchange Conferencing Server  Check free/busy for the virtual meeting room (“conference resource”)  If available, Exchange adds conference resource to invitation  When user sends invitation, resource is reserved and URL for conference is included in invitations Joining a meeting Joining a meeting  When meeting reminder pops up, click on “join meeting” button  Browser pulls up Web page with conf info, embedded NM control, and multi-party video

Recap client experience

What if no Outlook 2000? Scheduling a meeting Scheduling a meeting  Applications such as Outlook Web Access, previous versions of Outlook, Exchange 5.0 client, send meeting request to conference resource  If conference resource is available, Exchange sends acknowledgement accepting reservation and providing conference URL Joining a meeting Joining a meeting  When meeting reminder pops up, click on “join meeting” button  Browser pulls up best possible client interface (depends on browser, OS, and version of NM)  If no meeting reminder, click on URL from and browser will pull up best possible client

Conferencing Components IIS Exchange Conference Manager VideoData Resources & Configuration Active Directory Conf. Calendar Free Busy Conf. Rooms Exchange Client Components T.120MCUs OtherServices Schedule Conference T.120 client NetMeeting “Join” Conference Client PCs Other clients MAD -CAP MMC Snap-ins Cert.Server Other Client Access Pages Video Data Conf. Calendar Conf. Rooms Client Access Pages

Deployment Considerations Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server requires one Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 Server Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server requires one Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 Server Customers can run a mixed NT4/Exchange 5.5 and Win2K/Exchange 2K environment Customers can run a mixed NT4/Exchange 5.5 and Win2K/Exchange 2K environment CMS server can support thousands of users and should be centralized CMS server can support thousands of users and should be centralized Data MCUs and H.323 bridges should be deployed based on conferencing demand Data MCUs and H.323 bridges should be deployed based on conferencing demand

ECS Deployment Base on existing Windows 2000 sites Base on existing Windows 2000 sites  Geographical or otherwise Base on conferencing needs Base on conferencing needs  Entire org? Local? Private? Internet? Base on bandwidth Base on bandwidth  Local and between sites  Storage location of conferencing objects Tip: Initial Implementation - Consider a phased rollout of ECS if you are new to online conferencing. Deploy the service on one server and give access to a single group. Then add additional servers and groups as demand increases for the service.

CMS Placing Only 1 active CMS per Windows 2000 site Only 1 active CMS per Windows 2000 site May or may not have CMS on each site May or may not have CMS on each site  How many users conferencing on each site?  What is the purpose of the site?  Do you have multicast connectivity between sites? Should setup separate site for Internet conferencing Should setup separate site for Internet conferencing Place CMS on separate box than Exchange and DHCP server Place CMS on separate box than Exchange and DHCP server Tip:The Video Conferencing Service will not function properly if installed on same box as your active DHCP server. Therefore, place CMS on separate box if you plan on video conferencing.

MCU Placement Wherever you have lots of users Wherever you have lots of users  Users usually connect to closest MCU On subnets On subnets  How much traffic is acceptable? On sites On sites At both ends of a slow link At both ends of a slow link Setup Internet focused MCU Setup Internet focused MCU

Internet ‘External’ client connection Public focused T.120 MCU NET-C focused T.120 MCU NET-C Clients connections are load-balanced across MCU farm NET-A or NET-B focused T.120 MCUs NET-B NET-A ConferenceManager Backbone Data MCU Deployment Sample

CMS & IIS LAN Router Router Router Router Clients Clients Clients Subnet B Subnet A Router CMS & IIS MCUMCU MCU MCU Subnet C Single Site – Backbone Topology

CMS & IIS LAN Router Router Router Router Clients Clients ClientsClientsMCUs MCUs Clients MCUs Clients Subnet 1 Subnet 3 Subnet 2 Single Site – Hub & Spoke

Router Router Router WAN/Internet CMS & IIS MCU MCU MCU MCU MCU MCU Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Multi Site Topology

Fully Functional Conferencing: Windows 2000 on all ECS Servers (CMS and MCUs) Windows 2000 on all ECS Servers (CMS and MCUs) Network multicast capable Network multicast capable  Windows 2000 on clients  Multicast enabled routers Exchange 2000 in domain Exchange 2000 in domain Certificate Server Certificate Server Clients must have: Clients must have:  Windows 2000  Outlook 2000  ActiveX® and Java™ capable browsers  NetMeeting® 3.1  Audio/Video equipped

Or, Configure Down For non-Outlook 2000 users For non-Outlook 2000 users  Scheduling conf. takes a few more steps For non-Windows 2000 clients For non-Windows 2000 clients  Multicast not available  Must enable H.323 bridge = reduced video For Exchange 5.5 users For Exchange 5.5 users  2-way AD connector to replicate to 5.5 To check your routers To check your routers  Use multicast diagnostics tool in Windows 2000 ResKit

CMS Service Have a backup CMS server in the site Have a backup CMS server in the site Create your Calendar Mailbox and resources in a separate MDB for fast backup/restore Create your Calendar Mailbox and resources in a separate MDB for fast backup/restore Make sure your Calendar Mailbox server has fast connection with CMS Make sure your Calendar Mailbox server has fast connection with CMS Create a separate conferencing site accessible from the Internet Create a separate conferencing site accessible from the Internet

T.120 MCU Servers Always have MCUs on both sides of a slow link Always have MCUs on both sides of a slow link Putting MCUs in specific subnets and assigning visibility restrictions is a tradeoff between performance and reliability Putting MCUs in specific subnets and assigning visibility restrictions is a tradeoff between performance and reliability

MADCAP Servers Have backup MADCAP servers Have backup MADCAP servers Split scopes between two or more servers Split scopes between two or more servers Configure video resources to request addresses from all the MADCAPs with the same class of scope Configure video resources to request addresses from all the MADCAPs with the same class of scope

Conference Resources Naming: Naming:  Distinguish from physical rooms, e.g. “Virtual Meeting Room (10)”  Indicate site, e.g. “Redmond Virtual Videoconference (5)”  Create several resources of each type with different sizes  You may name resources according to scenarios, e.g. “Corporate broadcast resource”  Create audio-only resource if video is not important and bandwidth is limited

Priorities for “next” ECS Conference recording Conference recording Unified client for ad-hoc and scheduled conferences Unified client for ad-hoc and scheduled conferences Integration of Presence/Instant Messaging (groups of IM users) Integration of Presence/Instant Messaging (groups of IM users) Broader B-to-B conferencing capabilities Broader B-to-B conferencing capabilities Better integration with Windows Media Technology Better integration with Windows Media Technology

Resource Slide productinfo/conferencing.htm productinfo/conferencing.htm productinfo/conferencing.htm productinfo/conferencing.htm ConceptsPlanning.chm on the ECS CD ConceptsPlanning.chm on the ECS CD Exchange 2000 SDK Exchange 2000 SDK

ECS Summary Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server (ECS) is a vast improvement over today’s point-to-point conferencing and competitive server solutions Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server (ECS) is a vast improvement over today’s point-to-point conferencing and competitive server solutions ECS is optimized both for knowledge workers and IT managers: ECS is optimized both for knowledge workers and IT managers:  Knowledge workers can easily set up scheduled or ad-hoc meetings across their teams and enterprises  IT managers can easily manage conferencing resources and enable reliable, scalable conferencing for their whole company