Group Chat

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.

 

Topic Last Modified: 2016-12-01

The following sections describe Office Communications Server 2007 R2 features necessary for installing Group Chat, the topologies for single server and multiple-server configurations, the hardware and software requirements for installing Group Chat, and the steps for deploying Group Chat.

Feature Components

A Group Chat installation includes the following components:

• One or more Group Chat Servers, each running a Chat Server that comprises the following services:

  • Lookup service

  • Channel service

  • Web service

• A computer that hosts the SQL Server database for chat history data, as well as information about categories and chat rooms that are created, user provisioning information from the Group Chat Administration Tool and initial sign-in, and basic configuration information about the Group Chat Servers

• Group Chat client computers

If compliance is required, the single-server topology must also include the following:

• Compliance service

• A SQL Server database for compliance data, which can optionally be the same as the Group Chat database

Administration of Group Chat from a separate computer (such as an administrative console) requires installation of the Group Chat Administration Tool on the computer.

All of these computers must be deployed in an Active Directory domain, with at least one global catalog server in the forest root.

Topologies

Group Chat supports both single-server and multiple-server topologies. For details about hardware and software requirements for the Group Chat Server, see Internal Office Communications Server Component Requirements. 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 the 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 of the components of a topology with a single Group Chat Server and optional Compliance service with a separate compliance database.

Figure 1. Single Group Chat Server

Multiple-Server Topology

To provide greater 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 of the components of a pooled topology with multiple Group Chat Servers and the optional Compliance service and separate compliance database.

Figure 2. 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 is accessible 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 Group Chat Server Configuration Tool to change it after installation.

To configure settings in a multiple-server, pooled environment, use the Group Chat Server 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 on different subnets due to the possible presence of firewalls separating the computers.

Information about capacity planning for your topology is available in Capacity Planning.

Note

Updated Group Chat capacity planning documentation, as well as a capacity planning spreadsheet, is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center:

• Capacity Planning for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat Server with QFE1 documentation: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=178622

• Spreadsheet for Capacity Planning for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat Server with QFE1: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=178624

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:

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool

• Office Communications Server Edge Servers in the perimeter network

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

Group Chat Server Prerequisites

Each server that will host Group Chat Server must have access to an existing Office Communications Server 2007 R2 topology with the following the following components:

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Front End Server. The Front End Server enables communication between the Group Chat Console and the Group Chat Server components. Before you begin to deploy Group Chat, verify the deployment of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition, or an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise pool, as well as other internal Office Communications Server 2007 R2 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 Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 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 of 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 server roles:

  • Access Edge Server

  • Web Conferencing Edge Server

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

Each Group Chat Server requires Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2), or Windows Server 2008, along with the software described in the following table.

Table 1. Server Requirements

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.
Internet Information Services (IIS)	Hosts the Web Service for the purpose of posting files to chat rooms. Windows Server 2008 users must enable the IIS 6.0 Compatibility feature.
ASP.NET 2.0	Used to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications, and XML Web services. ASP.NET 2.0 is a Web application.
Message Queuing	Used by the Group Chat Compliance service, if deployed.
Microsoft Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 3.0	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.

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 three components that are automatically installed when you install Group Chat, if they are not already installed on the computer. These components include the following.

Table 2. Required Components

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, if this version or a later version of the software is not already installed on the computer, Group Chat installs it.
Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) v2.0 Redist 3.5.6774.0	Used in the creation of SIP clients and SIP servers. 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.
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Core Components	The libraries required to provide integration with administration features, including the WMI components of Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

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 Group Chat database servers requires the same hardware as the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 back-end database server. For details, see Planning for Internal Deployment of Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

On the database server, ensure that the following software is installed:

• Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.

• SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with Service Pack 2 (SP2). For details about installing SQL Server 2008, see Installing SQL Server 2008 at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139335. For details about installing SQL Server 2005, see Installing SQL Server 2005 at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139333.

Deployment Steps

The following table lists the basic steps involved with deploying Group Chat and provides associated links to more information.

Table 3. Group Chat Deployment Process

Phase	Steps	Permissions	Documentation
Create SQL Server database.	Log on to the server that will host the database, and then create a new database.	Database administrator	Preparing Server Platforms
Set up Group Chat accounts and permissions.	Set up and enable accounts for Group Chat Servers. Set up SQL Server accounts and permissions. Enable the lookup server account for federation.	Administrators group	Setting Up Group Chat Server Accounts and Permissions in Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Obtain certificates for Group Chat.	Download the CA certification path. Install the CA certification path. Request the certificate. Install the certificate. Verify the root CA.	Administrators group	Obtaining Certificates for Group Chat Server in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Install Group Chat.	Install the Group Chat Server in a single-server topology or the first Group Chat Server in a multiple-server topology. Install additional Group Chat Servers for a multiple-server topology.	Administrators group	Installing Group Chat Server in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Configure Web site settings in IIS.	Open IIS Manager. Ensure that the Enable Anonymous Access check box is selected. Specify the credentials for an account that has read/write permissions on the file repository folder.	Administrators group	Configuring Web Service Settings in IIS in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Connect the Group Chat Administration Tool.	Install the Group Chat Administration Tool. Configure the Group Chat Administration Tool connection.	Administrators group Channel service administrator	Installing and Connecting to the Group Chat Administration Tool in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Configure Group Chat user access.	Any user who is provisioned for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 is also provisioned as a Group Chat user.	Administrators group	Configuring Group Chat Server User Access in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation
Deploy archiving and compliance support.	Set up the SQL Server database for compliance. Install the Compliance service.	Database administrator Administrators group	Deploying Compliance Support in the Deploying Group Chat Server documentation