The Director is a Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool that does not home any users, but instead serves as the recommended internal next-hop server to which an Edge Server routes inbound Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) traffic destined to internal servers. The Director authenticates inbound requests and distributes them among the servers in Enterprise pools or to the appropriate Standard Edition server.

If you are deploying Edge Servers to enable access to Office Communications Server to external users, a Director is recommended but not required.

You can configure an Enterprise pool as a Director by using the wizards in the deployment tool.

If you have a Scaled Consolidated Edge topology, with multiple Edge Servers deployed, the next hop server on the Director must target the virtual IP (VIP) address of the Access Edge service array on the internal load balancer.

To deploy a Director in your organization, you need to set up certificates and Domain Name System (DNS) as you would for any internal Office Communications Server.

Deploying a Standard Edition Server as a Director

The following steps guide you through the process of deploying a Standard Edition server as a Director.

Step 1 Deploy a Standard Edition Server Configured as a Director

Use these steps to configure a Standard Edition server as a Director.

To configure a Standard Edition Server as a Director

  1. Configure these DNS records for the server:

    • An internal DNS A record that resolves the FQDN of your Standard Edition server.

    • If you plan to support Web Conferencing for external users, an external DNS A record that resolves the external Web farm FQDN to the external IP address of the reverse proxy.

  2. Start the deployment tool by going to setup\amd64\setupSE.exe, and then double-clicking setupSE.exe.

  3. Click Deploy Standard Edition Server, then at Deploy Server, click Run.

  4. Complete the wizard.

  5. At Configure Server, click Run.

  6. At the Welcome to the Configure Pool/Server Wizard page, click Next.

  7. On the Server or Pool to Configurepage, select the server from the list, and click Next.

  8. On the SIP domainspage, verify that your SIP domain appears in the list box. If it does not, select the SIP domains in your environmentcheck box, type your SIP domain, and then click Add. Repeat these steps for all other SIP domains that the Standard Edition server supports. When you are finished, click Next.

  9. On the Client Logon Settingspage, do one of the following, then click Next:

    • If the Office Communicator clients and Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 clients in your organization use DNS SRV records for automatic logon, click Some or all clients will use DNS SRV records for automatic logon.

      If this server or pool is also used as to authenticate and redirect requests for automatic sign-in, select the Use this server or pool to authenticate and redirect automatic client logon requestscheck box. When you configure automatic client logon, you must designate one (and only one) Enterprise pool or Standard Edition server to authenticate and redirect client sign-in requests.

    • If the Office Communicator clients and Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 clients in your organization are not configured to use automatic discovery, click Clients will be manually configured for logon.

  10. If, in the previous step, you selected Some or all clients will use DNS SRV records for automatic logon, select the check box for the domains that will be supported by the server for automatic sign-in, then click Next.

  11. On the SIP Domains for Automatic Logonpage, do one of the following:

    • If, on the Client Logon Settingspage, you selected Some or all clients will use DNS SRV records for automatic logon, select the check box for the domains that will be supported by the server for automatic sign-in, and then click Next.

    • If, on the Client Logon Settingspage, you selected Clients will be manually configured for logon, skip the next step.

  12. On the External User Access Configurationpage, select Do not configure external user access now, and then click Next.

  13. On the Ready to Configure Server or Poolpage, review the settings that you specified, and then click Nextto configure the Standard Edition server.

  14. When the wizard has completed, verify that the View the log when you click Finishcheck box is selected, and then click Finish.

  15. In the log file, verify that <Success> appears under the Execution Result column. Look for <Success> Execution Result at the end of each task to verify that the Standard Edition server configuration completed successfully. Close the log window when you finish.

  16. Configure certificates, start services, and validate your server configuration as explained in these sections (not yet available).

Step 2 Deactivate Server Roles on the Standard Edition Server (Optional)

AS a security best practice, you should deactivate the server roles that the Director does not require: the Web Conferencing, A/V Conferencing, and Web Component roles.

To deactivate the roles not required for a Director

  1. Log on to the Director with an account that is a member of the local administrators group and a member of RTCUniversalServerAdmins.

  2. Open the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 tools by clicking Start, pointing to All Programs, pointing to Administrative Tools, and then clicking Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

  3. Expand Standard Edition Server, and then expand the server you just deployed as a Director.

  4. Right-click the FQDN of the server, point to Deactivate, and then click Web Conferencingand complete the wizard.

  5. Right-click the FQDN of the server, point to Deactivate, and then click A/V Conferencingand complete the wizard.

  6. Right-click the FQDN of the server, point to Deactivate, and then click Web Componentsand complete the wizard.

Deploying an Enterprise Pool as a Director

The following steps guide you through the process of configuring an Enterprise pool as a Director.

Step 1 Set up SQL, DNS and Create a Pool

To deploy an Enterprise Pool as a Director

Step 2 Configure the Pool as a Director

After you create the pool, use the following procedure to configure the pool as a Director.

To configure an Enterprise Pool as a Director

  1. After you have created your pool, next to Configure Pool, click Run.

  2. On the Welcome to the Configure Pool/Server Wizardpage, click Next.

  3. Before you can continue, verify that the Office Communications Server administration tools are installed on the computer. If the tools are not installed, on the Administrative Tools requiredpage, click Nextto install the administrative tools.

  4. On the Server or Pool to Configurepage, select the pool from the list, and then click Next.

  5. On the Load Balancer Configuration Parameterspage, do one of the following:

    • If you are using a load balancer that is configured to perform destination network address translation (DNAT), click Load balancer is configured in DNAT (destination network address translation)mode.

    • If you are using a load balancer that is configured to perform source network address translation (SNAT) or if you are not using a load balancer, click Load balancer is configured in SNAT (source network address translation)mode.

      Note:
      It is recommended that you configure your load balancer to operate in SNAT mode if you can. If the load balancer for this pool is configured to operate in DNAT mode, connections from member servers in the pool will be redirected to the local host. Redirecting connections to the local host is necessary so that the pool can operate in DNAT mode, but it can negatively affect the availability of the pool. To ensure maximum availability of the pool, configure the load balancer to operate in SNAT mode.

  6. On the SIP domainspage, verify that your SIP domain appears in the list box. If it does not, select the SIP domains in your environmentcheck box, type your SIP domain, and then click Add. Repeat these steps for all other SIP domains that the Enterprise pool will support.

  7. When you are finished, click Next.

  8. On the Client Logon Settingspage, do one of the following:

    • If the Office Communicator clients and Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 clients in your organization use DNS SRV records for automatic logon, click Some or all clients will use DNS SRV records for automatic logon. If this server or pool is also used to authenticate and redirect requests for automatic sign-in, then select the Use this server or pool to authenticate and redirect automatic client logon requestscheck box. When you configure automatic client logon, you must designate one (and only one) Enterprise pool or Standard Edition server to authenticate and redirect client sign-in requests.

    • If the Office Communicator clients and Live Meeting 2007 clients in your organization will not be configured to use automatic discovery, click Clients will be manually configured for logon.

  9. When you are finished, click Next.

  10. On the SIP Domains for Automatic Logonpage, do one of the following:

    • If in step 9 you selected Some or all clients will use DNS SRV records for automatic logon, select the check box for the domains that will be supported by the server for automatic sign-in, and then click Next.

    • If in step 9 you selected Clients will be manually configured for logon, skip to step 12.

  11. On the External User Access Configurationpage, select Do not configure external user access now, and then click Next.

  12. On the Ready to Configure Server or Poolpage, review the settings that you specified, and then click Nextto configure the Enterprise Edition server.

  13. When the files are installed and the wizard has completed, verify that the View the log when you click Finishcheck box is selected, and then click Finish.

  14. In the log file, verify that Successappears under the Execution Resultcolumn. Look for SuccessExecution Result at the end of each task to verify that Enterprise Edition server configuration completed successfully. Close the log window when you finish.

Step 3 Add Front End Servers

Add Front End Servers to your Enterprise pool by using the procedure in the Add Servers to the Pooltopic in the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition deployment documentation.

Step 4 Configure Certificates on Each Front End Server

Use the steps in Configure Certificates for Office Communications Serverto configure certificates on each Front-End Server.

Step 5 Start Services

Use the steps in Start the Servicesto start services on each Front End Server.

Step 6 Validate Your Server and Pool Configuration

Validate the configuration on each Front End Server by using the steps in the Validate Your Server and Pool Configurationtopic in the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition deployment documentation.

Deactivate Address Book Server on the Standard Edition Server or Enterprise Edition Servers

As a security best practice, disable all unnecessary components running on your Director. You need to perform this procedure only once on one of the Front End Servers in the pool acting as a Director.

To deactivate the Address Book Server

  1. Use an account that is a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group or has equivalent privileges to log on to one of the servers in the pool.

  2. Open a Command Prompt window by clicking Start, pointing to Run, typing cmdin the Openbox, and then clicking OK.

  3. At the command prompt, type wbemtest.

  4. Click Connect.

  5. In the Namespacebox, type root\cimv2, and then click Connect.

  6. Click Query.

  7. Type the following:

    Copy Code 
    Select * from MSFT_SIPAddressBookSetting where BackEnd=SQL database
instance

  8. Click Apply.

  9. Double-click the result returned.

  10. In Object Edit, double-click the OutputLocationproperty.

  11. In the Valuebox, click Null.

  12. Click Save Property.

  13. Click Save Object.

  14. Click Close.

  15. Click Closeagain, and then click Exit.