Terms and Concepts in the Office Communications Server 2007 Administration Guide

Terms and Concepts

Access Edge Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the perimeter network that validates incoming SIP traffic, then forwards the IM traffic between internal and external users. In Live Communications Server 2005, it was called the Access Proxy. The Access Edge Server and Web Conferencing Server should be collocated on the same server. The A/V Edge Server can also be collocated on the same server.

Active Directory Domain Services. The directory service that stores information about objects on a network and makes this information available to users and network administrators.

Anonymous user. An external user who does not have credentials in Active Directory Domain Services.

A/V. Audio/video.

A/V Conferencing Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the internal network that enables audio and video peer-to-peer communications and audio and video conferencing. This server role is available on a Standard Edition Server. In an Enterprise pool, it can be collocated with the Front End Server and Web Conferencing Server or can be deployed on a separate server.

A/V Edge Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the perimeter network that provides a single trusted point through which media traffic can traverse NATs and firewalls. It enables audio and video conferencing and A/V peer-to-peer communications with external users equipped with the Office Communicator 2007 client. This server role can be collocated with the Access Edge Server and Web Conferencing Edge Server, or it can reside on a separate, dedicated server.

Archiving and CDR Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the internal network that supports archiving instant messaging (IM) conversations and group conferences and for capturing usage information related to file transfers, audio/video (A/V) conversations, application sharing, remote assistance, meetings, and conferencing servers in call detail records (CDRs). To implement archiving and CDR support, one or more Archiving and CDR servers must be deployed in the organization and the Enterprise pool or Standard Edition Server should point to the Archiving and CDR Server. The database for the Archiving and CDR Server can be deployed on the same computer as the Archiving and CDR Server or on a separate computer.

Back-end database. One of two SQL databases:

A database in the internal network that stores user information and conference state, including persistent user data, transient user data, and persistent Office Communications Server 2007 settings. This back-end database is collocated with the Standard Edition Server or, for an Enterprise pool, deployed on a separate, dedicated computer.

If deploying an Archiving and CDR Server, a database in the internal network that stores the archiving data, CDRs, and meeting content compliance data. This back-end database may be collocated with the Archiving and CDR Server or deployed on a separate, dedicated computer.

Consolidated topology. An Enterprise pool configuration in which all server components, including Internet Information Services (IIS), the Web Conferencing Server, the Web Components Server, and the A/V Conferencing Server, are collocated on the pools Front End Servers. The IM Conferencing Server and Telephony Server are also collocated with the Front End Server.

Edge server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the perimeter network that provides connectivity for external users and public IM connections. Each edge server has one or more of the following server roles: Access Edge Server, a Web Conferencing Edge Server, or an A/V Edge Server. An edge server is managed using the Office Communications Server 2007 snap-in extension for the Computer Management snap-in, not the Office Communications Server 2007 administrative snap-in.

Enterprise pool. Servers in the internal network that are running Office Communications Server 2007, Enterprise Edition and host the necessary services, including IM, presence, and conferencing services. Depending on the pool configuration (consolidated configuration or expanded configuration), services can all be collocated on the Front End Server or specific services can run on separate, dedicated computers. The back-end database runs on a separate server.

Enterprise Voice. The IP telephony component of the Microsoft Unified Communications solution.

Expanded topology. An Enterprise pool configuration in which the Front End Server, the Web Conferencing Server, Web Components Server, and the A/V Conferencing Server are installed on separate, dedicated computers. The IM Conferencing Server and Telephony Server are collocated with the Front End Server.

External user. A user connecting 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 therefore is treated as authenticated by Office Communications Server.

Federation. A trust relationship between two or more SIP domains that permits users in separate organizations to communicate in real-time across network boundaries as federated partners. Internal users can communicate with external users of a federated partner by using IM or conferencing. A federated partner can also be an audio conferencing provider (ACP) providing telephony integration.

Front End Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the internal network that hosts the IM Conferencing Service, Address Book Service, and Telephony Conferencing Service to support registration, presence, IM, and conferencing. This server role is available on a Standard Edition Server. In an Enterprise pool, it can be collocated with the Web Conferencing Server and A/V Conferencing Server, or can be deployed on a separate server.

IM Conferencing Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 conferencing server that provides server-managed group IM. It runs as a separate process on the Standard Edition Server or Enterprise pool Front End Server.

Mediation Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the internal network that mediates signaling and media between the Enterprise Voice infrastructure (such as a Director or home server) and another gateway (such as a Basic Media Gateway). A Mediation Server is also used to link Office Communications Server and a PBX in both departmental deployment and PBX integration topologies. The Mediation Server is deployed on a separate, dedicated server.

Pool. One or more servers that provide IM, presence, and conferencing services and are connected to a SQL database for storing user and conference information. For an Enterprise pool, the database must be installed on a separate, dedicated computer. Installing the back-end database on a server running any other Office Communications Server role is not supported. In addition, certain conferencing components may or may not be deployed on the same physical computer, depending on the pool configuration (Standard Edition Server, Enterprise pool consolidated configuration, or Enterprise pool expanded configuration).

Remote user. A user outside the internal network who has a persistent Active Directory identity within the organization.

Reverse proxy server. A server in the perimeter network that is required if any of the following is required: enabling external users to download meeting content or expand distribution groups, or to enable remote users to download files from the Address Book Service. This can be a server running Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server or another reverse proxy server.

SIP. Session Initiation Protocol, a signaling protocol.

Standard Edition Server. A server in the internal network running Office Communications Server 2007, Standard Edition that hosts all necessary services, including IM, presence, and conferencing services, as well as the database, on a single server.

Telephony Conferencing Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 conferencing server that enables audio conference integration with audio conferencing providers (ACPs). It runs as a separate process on the Standard Edition Server or Enterprise pool Front End Server.

Web Components Server. A server in the internal network that provides software Web components that require IIS to support Office Communications Server 2007. These Web components include IIS Virtual Directory setup to support Address Book Server, the Web Conferencing Server (downloading of meeting content), and the IM Conferencing group expansion Web service. It runs on each Standard Edition Server and, for Enterprise pools, either on the Front End Server (in a consolidated configuration) or dedicated IIS server (in an expanded configuration).

Web Conferencing Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the internal network that enables multi-party data collaboration. This server role is available on a Standard Edition Server. In an Enterprise pool, it can be collocated with the Front End Server and A/V Conferencing Server, or can be deployed on a separate server.

Web Conferencing Edge Server. An Office Communications Server 2007 server in the perimeter network that enables data collaboration with external users. This server role is collocated with the Access Edge Server, except in remote offices, where the Web Conferencing Edge Server is deployed separately because no Access Edge Servers are deployed in the remote office.