Terminology in Office Communications Server
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
Table 1 summarizes terminology used to discuss supportability for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.
Table 1. Terminology
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
anonymous user |
An external user who does not have an internal user account with a corresponding User object in the Active Directory Domain Services. |
Archiving and CDR Server |
A server role that collects and stores information, including call data records, about traffic on the Office Communications Server deployment. |
Back-End Database |
A server role that hosts the SQL back-end database, which provides user information and conference state, including persistent user data, transient user data, and persistent Office Communications Server 2007 settings to the Front End Server. The Back-End Database is collocated with a Standard Edition Server. In an Enterprise pool, the Back-End Database is deployed on a separate, dedicated computer. |
Communicator Web Access |
An Office Communications Server 2007 server role that extends real-time presence and instant messaging to Web-based clients, insufficiently privileged Windows platforms, and non-Windows platforms that use AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). |
conferencing servers |
Server roles that mix and manage inputs from multiple clients in a group session. |
Director |
A server role in the internal network that authenticates external users and routes traffic between edge servers and the internal Office Communications Server deployment. |
edge server |
An Office Communications Server that resides in the perimeter network and that provides connectivity for external users and public IM connections. |
enhanced presence |
Presence in Office Communications Server 2007. |
Enterprise Voice |
The Microsoft software-powered VoIP solution. . |
external user |
A user who connects from outside the organizations firewall. External users include anonymous users, federated users, and remote users. |
federated user |
An external user who possesses valid credentials with a federated partner and who is authenticated on that basis by Office Communications Server. |
Front End Server |
A registration, presence, IM, and conferencing server that hosts the IM Conferencing Service, Address Book Service, and Telephony Conferencing Service. |
HTTP reverse proxy |
A server in the perimeter network that is required in order to enable external users to download meeting content, to expand distribution groups, or to download files from the Address Book Service. The reverse proxy does not run Office Communications Server and therefore is not a server role. |
IP/PSTN Gateway |
A media gateway that supports interoperation between IP-based and PSTN-based systems. |
Live Meeting 2007 client |
The Windows-based desktop client for Web conferencing. |
media gateway |
A device that translates signaling and media between the PSTN or PBX and Office Communications Server Directors and Front End Servers. Office Communications Server supports three types of media gateway:
|
Mediation Server |
A server role that mediates signaling and media between Office Communications Server Directors or Front End Servers and a media gateway. |
Office Communicator 2007 |
The Windows-based desktop client for Office Communications Server 2007. |
Outlook Add-in |
An add-in that integrates Office Communications Server 2007 with Outlook 2002, 2003, and 2007. |
PBX |
Public branch exchange, a switching system for voice communication that routes internal calls directly without access to the PSTN. A PBX can be a conventional phone network, a VoIP network, or a combination of the two. |
pool |
A combination of one or more Front End Servers and a Back-End Database that is hosted either on the Front End Server (Standard Edition) or on one or more Back-End Database servers (Enterprise Edition). |
presence |
Presence in Live Communications Server 2005. |
PSTN |
Public switched telephone network, a conventional common carrier telephone network. |
publicly routable IP address |
An IP address that can be directly routed from outside an organizations firewall to the perimeter network or the internal network. |
remote user |
An external user whose account has a corresponding User object in the Active Directory® Domain Services. |
VoIP |
Voice over Internet Protocol, the basis of voice communication over computer networks. |