In Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, the Monitoring Server performs both Quality of Experience (QoE) data gathering and Call Detail Record (CDR) functionality. This consolidation simplifies deployment and management, and it reduces the cost of ownership.
QoE data collected includes metrics data about audio and video quality from the A/V Conferencing Server component of Front End Servers and Standard Edition servers, Mediation Server, and clients such as Office Communicator, Office Communicator Phone Edition, and Live Meeting. CDR data is usage information that is related to VoIP calls, IM messages, A/V conversations, meetings, application sharing, remote assistance, and file sharing, and it is collected for both peer-to-peer sessions and multiparty conferences.
The Monitoring Server architecture includes the following components:
- The
Monitoring services, which run on the Monitoring Server and
transfer collected data from the queues to the database. These
include two services: the CDR service for CDR data, and the QoE
service for media quality data.
- The
Monitoring Server database, which runs on SQL Server and
stores the captured data. The database can run on the same
Monitoring Server as the Monitoring services, or on a different
back-end server. The QoE database and CDR database are separate
databases, but they always run in the same SQL Server instance on
the same server.
- The
Data Collection Agents, which are installed automatically on
every Front End Server and Standard Edition server. The CDR agent
intercepts SIP messages and uses them to send data to the
destination queue on the Monitoring Server. The QoE agent receives
QoE data reports from endpoints via SIP SERVICE requests, and sends
the data to the destination queue on the Monitoring Server.
Optionally, a third-party consumer can be configured to receive QoE
reports via HTTP POST.
-
Microsoft Message Queuing, which must run on each Monitoring
Server and on each Front End Server and Standard Edition server
that reports data to Monitoring Server.
- The
Systems Center Operation Management (SCOM) packis an
optional component. In addition to server monitoring for the entire
deployment, the SCOM pack uses Monitoring Server QoE data to
generate a health model and generate near real-time alerts showing
the health of the A/V Conferencing Server component on your Front
End Servers, as well as the health of Mediation Servers and network
locations.
Note: In Office Communications Server 2007, this functionality was delivered in a separate QoE Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) Pack. In Office Communications Server 2007 R2, it is incorporated into the overall Office Communications Server SCOM Pack. - The
Monitoring Server Report Packis an optional component. You
can use this component with SQL Server Reporting Services to
generate detailed reports using Monitoring Server data. These
reports provide trend, summary, and call list information to help
you understand media quality on your network. Additionally, there
are new CDR reports that help you understand overall peer-to-peer
and conferencing usage of Office Communications Server.
As the following figure shows, the CDR Agent and QoE Agent both reside on each Front End Server. Each agent writes records to Microsoft Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ); these records are then read by Monitoring Server. Monitoring Server then writes the records to the CDR database or QoE database, as appropriate. Monitoring Server also sends the information to the SCOM Server for the monitoring of A/V health, if the SCOM Pack is deployed.