IBM Sametime 8.5.2 Administration Guide: A comprehensive, practical guide for the planning, installation, and maintenance of your Sametime 8.5.2 environment

Core to the entire Sametime multi-server architecture is the management interface which runs as a WebSphere application. It is called the Sametime System Console (SSC). The SSC actually plugs into the standard WAS 7.x menu as an additional option.

The SSC provides the configuration and management tools needed to work with all the other Sametime components, including the Domino-based Instant Messaging server. It also comes with a series of step-by-step guides called Sametime Guided Activities to walk you through the installation of each server component in the proper sequence. The SSC also has a Sametime Servers section that allows you manage the Sametime servers.

The SSC installs as an add-in to WAS and is accessed through a browser on its own dedicated port. It also uses a custom DB2 database named STSC for storage of its management information.

Sametime Community Server is the instant messaging and presence awareness component of Sametime, which is installed as an add-in task for Domino. It must be installed on Domino versions 8.5 or 8.5.1, but it can work with earlier versions of Sametime already installed in your environment. Keep in mind, however, that pre-8.5.x clients will not benefit from many of the new features provided by your Sametime 8.5.2 servers. If your requirement is solely for instant messaging, then this is the only component you will need installed alongside Domino itself.

The Sametime Community Server "standard" install also includes the original Domino-based Meeting Center. This browser-based component has not been updated in any way from pre-8.5.x versions and is there purely for backwards compatibility and to maintain any existing scheduled meetings. There is no integration or interaction between the Domino-based Meeting Center and the Sametime 8.5.2 Meeting Center(s).

Other than being updated to run on top of a Domino 8.5 or 8.5.1 server, the actual Community Server component has changed very little and includes no significant new features from previous versions. Its browser administration interface and options remain the same. However, if you have deployed the SSC, the native Domino administration is over-ridden.

Following is a chart of the Sametime Community Server infrastructure. Note the optional management of the server by the SSC. Although the use of Domino as a directory is still supported, it is highly recommended you deploy Sametime using a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory. If you will be deploying other Sametime 8.5.2 components, then your deployment will usually require an LDAP directory to be used.

The Sametime Meeting server has been completely re-engineered to bring it up to the standards of modern web conferencing solutions. It is also better aligned with IBM's Sametime Unyte online service. The new Sametime Meeting Server (versus the Domino-based Meeting Center) runs as an application under WAS. In addition, as it requires a data store to hold meeting information, it utilizes a dedicated DB2 database for managing the content of each meeting room.

The previous Sametime meeting client was entirely browser-based. To improve performance and functionality for 8.5.2, a rich meeting center client has been introduced which plugs into the Sametime Eclipse environment. A browser interface for meetings is still available but it provides a reduced set of functions.

The Sametime Proxy Server re-introduces a lightweight browser-based client for Sametime, which has not been available in versions shipped since 6.5. The new browser client is designed to be lightweight and fully customizable and it is based on Ajax technology and themed using CSS. This allows it to launch quickly and be customized to match your organization's design.

The Proxy Server installs as an application under WAS, although it has no data store of its own and does not require any database connectivity. In the configuration for the Proxy Server, you direct it to a specific Community Server to supply the Sametime services. The following diagram gives a brief overview:

The Proxy Server ships with a default client designed as a JavaServer Page, which can be modified using customizable style sheets. It gives a feature-rich Sametime experience including multi-way chats, browser-based meetings, and privacy settings.

The Sametime Media Manager takes on the role of providing audio and video services for both the Sametime clients for peer-to-peer VoIP and video chats, and for web conferencing within the meeting rooms in the new meeting center. It is designed to provide services for multiple Meeting Servers and through them for instant meetings from the Sametime client. Installed on a WAS platform, it has no need for a data store and does not require any database connectivity.

The Media Manager is designed to provide a multi-way audio and video conferencing experience using modern codecs; however, it does not support Sametime clients in versions prior to 8.5.2. It is the audio and video "glue" that connects all the other Sametime server elements in 8.5.2.

In its default configuration, the Media Manager creates a SIP connection from itself to the requesting client. However, where the client is not on the same network as the Media Manager, no SIP connection can be made directly. To address this issue, which affects users outside of your firewall as well as those on different internal networks, IBM has introduced the TURN Server with Sametime 8.5.2.

The TURN server uses both TURN and STUN protocols to create a connection with the client. It routes audio and video traffic between itself and the Media Manager, allowing connections between clients across networks. The technology is sometimes referred to as a reflector and pre-8.5 versions of Sametime came with a reflector service of their own.

The TURN server is a Java program that runs in a command window on any Windows or Linux server sharing the same subnet as the Media Manager. It doesn't require WAS or any data store but runs with a separately installed IBM Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

The Sametime Bandwidth Manager is a new optional WAS-based component that is designed to help Sametime administrators manage the traffic generated by the Media Manager and its audio and video services. Within the Bandwidth Manager configuration, an administrator can create sites, links, and call-rate policies that define the service provided by the Media Manager. The Bandwidth Manager analyzes its rules when a new call is initiated and instructs the Media Manager on how to service that call.

Among the extremely granular levels of customization available are options for sites to have link rules that constrain the traffic between them. You can also create specific policies that specify the services available to named users or groups during peak and off-peak periods. Depending upon network load, user identity, and call participation, the Bandwidth Manager can be configured to control the bandwidth. It can do this by reducing the audio to a lower codec, reducing the video frame rate, or even denying video completely, informing the user that they should retry at a later time.

When planning or migrating to a Sametime environment, as with any other new software or hardware implementation, it is always prudent to plan, plan, and plan! Review the most current release notes for any changes with careful consideration of operating system, disk space requirements, and Sametime or Domino software requirements.

As with other software in the IBM Lotus family of products, the Sametime software and server components will run on different operating systems. For instance, if you have expertise in Linux, you will be happy to find that Sametime 8.5.2 runs on Linux. But if your organization or architecture requires that you run the software on Windows or AIX, then you have the ability to run Sametime on those operating systems as well. The following table provides an overview of the operating systems supported by Sametime 8.5.2 Standard and those components that will run on the specific operating systems:

Additional information about System i requirements can be found at given website: https://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=203&uid=swg21092193.

The following table summarizes the disk space requirements for the various Sametime 8.5.2 Standard server components. Note that these are only minimum recommendations; you should plan to allow for additional space for growth and any future server upgrades.

The following table gives minimum memory recommendations. It may be easier to include additional memory in a new server purchase rather than justify additional memory later. So, plan accordingly!

Finally, Sametime 8.5.2 requires DB2 database software and the integration of Sametime with an LDAP server. DB2 software is included as part of the Sametime package. Refer to the release notes for details about specific system requirements, compatibility with LDAP servers, or any other unique requirements you may have for your environment.

Unlike previous versions, Sametime 8.5.2 has been designed to run as separate server components that integrate together. Although the Instant Messaging component remains as a task running under Domino, the other server elements are applications managed by WAS.

WAS is IBM's application management server environment. Deployment, security, clustering, performance management, and availability are part of the benefit of WAS, so applications running under the control of WAS are able to leverage these for their own services. A single WAS server can, and usually does, run several different applications in their own discrete and isolated logical space.

Multiple instances of Sametime Meeting Server or Sametime Proxy Server can be clustered by WAS. The configuration of the servers as well as their running state will be maintained and managed by WebSphere's Network Deployment Manager. Network Deployment Manager is a specific WAS server that manages clusters of servers deployed on secondary hardware. In this way, if one Meeting Server is unavailable, another will take over and provide the same service.

The following Sametime 8.5.2 servers and services run under WAS:

You also have the Instant Messaging component running under Domino. To further increase Instant Messaging capacity per server, we can move the Multiplexor service from the Domino server onto its own hardware. The Multiplexor (or MUX) is responsible for connecting client requests to the Sametime Community Server and usually runs alongside the other Sametime Community services. However, the MUX can be moved to separate hardware and doing so will increase the capacity of a single Sametime Community Server tenfold. This is possible because the MUX will maintain a single network connection between it and the Sametime Community Server instead of allowing every client to connect on its own network connection to the Sametime Community Server directly. Using multiple MUX services is a method for improving the reliability and performance of your instant messaging environment.

If you are interested in clustering your instant messaging services, then, as in previous versions, Sametime Community Server can leverage Domino's clustering capabilities to provision its own Instant Messaging cluster, which will support both load balancing and failover.

When designing your Sametime infrastructure, it is entirely up to you how many servers you want to have running the applications and features you need. What follows are some examples of server implementations so you can see how flexible the Sametime server architecture can be.

Example: Instant Messaging only with multiple servers

If your company is interested primarily in instant messaging, then you can deploy Sametime 8.5.2 with only that service. The Instant Messaging infrastructure and deployment in 8.5.2 is very similar to earlier versions of Sametime as it runs on a supported Domino server platform.

In the following example, we have deployed two separate Sametime 8.5.2 Instant Messaging servers, each of which is providing instant messaging services to users in its own region. Both servers in the screenshot are in a shared Sametime Community so users on either server can see each other.

As you will see, only two servers are in use in the following diagram, and there is no failover:

Example: A pilot install

This is the design of the default pilot install of all Sametime 8.5.2 elements as per IBM's documentation. It requires only two servers, one as a platform for Domino and one as a platform for WebSphere. The WebSphere elements, which are all installed onto a single server, require significant combined resources to run concurrently. This configuration is recommended for pilot and test deployments only, and should not be used for production environments.

There is no failover in this design and only two servers. Although the Instant Messaging elements can be expanded with additional servers, the Meeting, Media, and Proxy servers would need to be rebuilt to increase resources.

Example: A small install with room for future growth

In this design, the Meeting, Proxy, and Media Manager Servers are installed each on their own hardware. With this scenario, there is the option in the future of introducing additional Proxy and Meeting Servers into the cluster to provide failover services. The Media Manager can now be clustered.

Example: A clustered install with multiple failover

A clustered install with a provision for multiple failover would be an example of the basis for an enterprise-level design. Each component has been installed, where possible, with a cluster mate to provide failover capabilities. As we mentioned previously, the only servers that cannot be clustered are the Media Manager and the SSC itself.

What specific features of Sametime should you consider as targeted reasons for an upgrade or install? As we have already described briefly, the re-design of the Sametime infrastructure in 8.5.2 has also provided the following significant feature enhancements across the board.

Sametime and the use of instant messaging are central to many other Lotus products you may already have or are deploying. The Sametime embedded client ships and installs with Lotus Notes and is also available through a browser interface. Sametime functionality such as chatting and online awareness can also be integrated with Microsoft Office products, including Microsoft Outlook.

Frequently, when we talk about Sametime integration we are usually talking presence awareness. Presence awareness is the ability to see if someone is online and if they are, to initiate a chat. In the Sametime embedded client used with Lotus Notes, awareness icons appear in not only in the Sametime sidebar, but also in the mail inbox. Users can click to chat from the inbox, as shown in the following screenshot:

A unified icon set is used across all clients, so for example in iNotes, you will see the familiar online status icon.

There is Sametime integration in IBM Connections, Lotus Quickr, and virtually every other collaborative solution IBM delivers. Additionally, it is very simple to add Sametime awareness to any web application regardless of the hosting platform. With all of these potential interfaces, consider how "connected in real time" you and your organization might be!