Topic Last Modified: 2010-07-19
Microsoft Communications Server 2010 (Beta Refresh) supports virtualization topologies that support all major workloads-IM and presence, conferencing, and Enterprise Voice. Windows Server 2008 R2 is required, and both Hyper-V and VMWare are supported.
The supported topologies are as follows:
- Standard Edition Server topology, supporting up to 2000 users,
for proof-of-concept, pilot projects, and small businesses that
don’t need remote connectivity.
- Datacenter topology, supporting up to 40,000 users
Standard Edition Server
Topology
This topology includes one physical host server running one virtualized Standard Edition Server. The Standard Edition Server supports IM, Presence, Conferencing (including A/V conferencing and application sharing), and Enterprise Voice. Edge Server, Monitoring Server and Archiving Server are not supported in this topology.
The server hosting the virtualized environment should meet the following requirements:
Hardware Requirements for the Server Hosting the Virtual Machines
| Hardware component | Minimum requirement |
|---|---|
|
CPU |
8 cores |
|
Processor (recommended) |
Intel Xeon L5520 2.27 Gigahertz processor recommended for best performance |
|
Memory |
16 gigabytes (GB) |
|
Disk |
SAS drive with at least 500 GB |
|
Network |
Two 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters. See below for more details |
Both the physical host server and the virtual machine must run Windows Server 2008 R2 with the software update described in this Microsoft support article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981836.
The virtual machine running Standard Edition Server must have 4 cores and 8 GB of memory dedicated.
Both Hyper-V and VMWare virtualization environments are supported. For Communications Server 2010 (Beta Refresh), performance results have shown that media quality on VMWare has a 5 percent packet loss.
On both Hyper-V and VMWare, this topology supports up to 2000 users, with as many as 100 users concurrently connected to an A/V conference. Performance begins to degrade if more users than this are connected.
Datacenter Topology
The datacenter topology includes six physical host servers running a total of 17 virtual machines, which run the Communications Server roles. All Communications Server roles are supported, including IM, Presence, Conferencing (including A/V conferencing and application sharing), Enterprise Voice, Edge Server, Monitoring Server and Archiving Server.
The list of host servers, virtual machines, and hardware requirements for this topology are as follows:
Host Servers, Virtual Machines and Hardware Requirements
| Host Server | Host server requirements | Virtual machines running on this host | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
16 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
Four Front End Servers |
|
|
2 |
16 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
Four Front End Servers |
|
|
3 |
16 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
Four A/V Conferencing Servers |
|
|
4 |
8 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
Two Edge Servers |
|
|
5 |
8 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
One server running collocated Monitoring Server and Archiving Server |
|
|
6 |
8 cores, 16 GB memory, Intel XEON L5520 processor (recommended), dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters |
One Back-End server and one file server |
All eight Front End Servers are combined into one Front End pool.
In addition to these virtualized components, your topology must also include Active Directory servers, DHCP and DNS servers, and certificate authorities. These must run on different servers than those hosting the virtualized Communications Server components.
All physical host servers and all virtual machines must run Windows Server 2008 R2 with the the software update described in this Microsoft support article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981836.
Both Hyper-V and VMWare virtualization environments are supported. For Communications Server 2010 (Beta Refresh), performance results have shown that media quality on VMWare has a 5 percent packet loss.
On both Hyper-V and VMWare, this topology supports up to 40,000 users (as long as all host machine processors are Intel XEON L5520), with as many as 125 users concurrently connected to an A/V conference. Performance begins to degrade if more users than this are connected.
Managing Your Virtual
Environment
We recommend you use Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to manage your virtualized Communications Server topology. You can use SCVMM with either Hyper-V or VMWare.
By using SCVMM, you won’t need to use Terminal Services (TS) or Remote Desktop Services (RDP) for the virtual machine management. Additionally, by using SCVMM you can view and manage performance, as well as other components such as disk space. You can also save a virtual machine as a template for creating new instances.
SCVMM uses Windows PowerShell, so you can create SCVMM Windows PowerShell scripts that integrate with Communications Server Management Shell to manage Communications Server.
For details about SCVMM, see http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/virtual-machine-manager.aspx.
Using SCVMM with VMWare
To use SCVMM when you use VMware as your virtualization environment, you must use VMware VSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), VMware VCenter Server, and VMware VSphere as your VMware components. To use SCVMM with a VMware virtualized environment, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764280.aspx.
 Note: |
|---|
| If your virtualization deployment includes only VMware ESX, you must install VMware VCenter Server, then start up vSphere client and point it to the FQDN (or IP) of the machine running the VCenter Server. Once connected, you can add the machines in your datacenter. After you have added all the hosts and virtual machines to VCenter, then can you connect VMM. |
Getting Started Using SCVMM
To get started using SCVMM to manage your virtualized Communications Server topology, do the following:
- In SCVMM, create a new host group named
CS 2010.
- In the Actions pane, click Add Host.
- If your virtual environment is part of your Active Directory
domain, select that option. Otherwise, select the Windows
Server-based host on a perimeter network, and click
Next.
- Install a SCVMM Agent on the host server. If the host server is
on a perimeter network, you must create a security key, which must
then be available to the SCVMM Administrative Console.
- Go back to the SCVMM Administrative Console and click Add
Host.
- Specify the machine name and the domain/machine name and
security key; make sure that SCVMM can find the host, then click
Next.
- Once the host has been added, the four virtual machines should
be available. In the SCVMM Administrative Console, click the
Virtual Machines button.
- You will now see the Virtual Machines view, with the four
virtual machines running Communications Server listed.
Using System Center Operations
Manager
You can use Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) to monitor your virtualized topology, just as you can with a physical topology. If you do so, you install SCOM 2007 R2 first, add the Communications Server SCOM pack, and then integrate it with SCVMM.
For more information on installing the Communications Server SCOM pack, see the document “Monitoring Microsoft Communications Server “14” Beta Refresh release with SCOM 2007 R2” on your installation media.
For details about integrating SCOM with SCVMM, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee236428.aspx.