Granite PSC Sametime Best Practices Sym

Luis Guirigay [email_address] IBM Lotus Sametime: Deployment and Best Practices

About PSC and the Presenter

Sametime Family – Deployments

Sametime Community Services

Sametime Meeting Services

What’s coming in Sametime 8.5

IBM Lotus Collaboration Products

Founded in 1990

100+ Consultants in Five Offices

Midwest Mid-Market Professional Services Firm

IBM Premium Business Partner for 15+ Years

Host of Ed Brill’s blog ( www.edbrill.com )

Host of OpenNTF.org ( www.openntf.org )

Host of IdeaJam.net ( http://ideajam.net )

Winner of multiple Lotus Awards (Best Philanthropy Award in Lotusphere 2009 being the last one)

Luis Guirigay

IT Specialist at PSC Group

Involved in IBM/Lotus Technologies since 1998 (R4, Sametime 2.x)

Co-Author of multiple IBM Redbooks (Domino 7 for i5/OS, Workplace on iSeries, DB2 on i5/OS and Lotus Workflow)

Advanced IBM Certified Administrator in 5, 6, 7, 8 and 8.5

Advanced IBM Certified Developer in 5, 6, 7, 8 and 8.5

IBM Certified Administrator in Sametime 7.5 and 8

IBM Certified Administrator in WebSphere Portal 6.0 and 6.1

IBM Certified Administrator in Lotus Connections 2.0.x

IBM Certified Developer in Lotus Workflow

Find me at:

http://lguiriga.blogspot.com

Twitter = lguiriga

Facebook = Luis Alejandro Guirigay

Let’s start with…

Sametime is not just for Lotus/Domino Platforms

Supported LDAP Server or Active Directory as LDAP

Sametime Toolbar for MS Outlook

Who is not using Sametime now ?

Who is using Sametime Entry ?

… Sametime Standard ?

… Sametime EMS ?

… Sametime Advanced ?

… Sametime Gateway ?

Sametime Editions

Sametime Entry

Sametime Standard

Sametime EMS (Enterprise Meeting Server)

Sametime Advanced

Sametime Unyte – Not covered here

Sametime Unified Telephony - Not covered here

It is Instant Messaging only (but it is free !)

Free if you have Release 6.5.1 or higher of:

IBM Lotus Notes for Messaging

IBM Lotus Notes for Collaboration

IBM Lotus iNotes for Messaging

IBM Lotus iNotes for Collaboration

IBM Lotus Domino Designer

IBM Lotus Domino Collaboration Express

IBM Lotus Domino Messaging Express

CEO Communications bundle

CEO Working Together bundle

CEO Lotus Messaging and WebSphere Portal bundle

What am I entitled to use ?

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/notesanddomino/sametimeentitlement.html

Sametime Entry

Domino server running Sametime (Different Machine recommended)

Directory Server (LDAP or Domino Directory)

Optional – Sametime Multiplexer

Sametime Standard

Domino server running Sametime (Different machine recommended)

Directory Server (LDAP or Domino Directory)

Optional – Sametime Multiplexer

Sametime Advanced

Domino server running Sametime Standard

DB2 Server

WebSphere MQ and WebSphere Event Broker

LDAP Server

WebSphere Application Server

IBM HTTP Server

Sametime Advanced

Persistent Group Chat Rooms

Users can create, enter, and read/contribute to ongoing chats at any time

Users can be alerted to new content, events, and people in the chat room

Users can participate from the Lotus Sametime Connect client or a browser

Persistent Chat Rooms can be linked to Broadcast Channels

Sametime Advanced

Real-time Broadcast Channels

Broadcast Announcements: Real-time alerts can be sent to channel subscribers

Instant Poll: subscribers can create and respond to real-time polls

Skill Tap: subscribers can find and interact with experts; expert responses can be saved and retrieved

Broadcast Chat: invite members of a broadcast community to an online group conversation

Sametime Advanced

Location services

Server-stored locations

Ability to see the last time and location from which an offline colleague was last online

Instant Share: share or remotely control a computer screen with colleagues

ST Gateway Technical Architecture

LDAP Server (required for ST, recommended for ST Gateway)

Domino Server running Sametime Standard

DB2 Server

Single Server Deployment

NAT is NOT supported

Users do not need to see the Sametime Gateway

Clustered Environment

NAT is supported in clustered environments

SIP Proxy Server and XMPP server

“ n” Domino servers running Sametime Standard

DB2 Server

LDAP

IBM HTTP Server (Best Practice)

Cluster Web Meetings

Failover

Load Balancing

Please note there is not geographic independence (ST EMS decides your target room server no matter your location)

Ports requirements

1516, 1503 and 1352 for Server to Server

80, 443(if https is enabled), 554,1533, 8081, 8082

See IBM Technote for complete details

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21097949

Sametime Databases

VPUserInfo.nsf – User Information (Buddy Lists) and Privacy Lists

STConf.nsf – (Web Meetings Info)

STConfig.nsf – Sametime Configuration Database

STAuthS.nsf – Secret (Still Available but used mostly in old releases)

STAuthT.nsf – Tokens (Still Available but used mostly in old releases)

Home Sametime Server

Should be used when multiple Sametime servers are deployed

Awareness is kept in the Home server

Buddy List is kept in the Home server

Use the cluster name if ST Community Services are clustered

Use FQHN

FQHN – Fully Qualified Host Names

sametime.domain.com vs 192.168.1.1

Required to use the Sametime Web Admin tool

Single Sign-On transactions need FQHN

Increasing Chat Capacity

Sametime Multiplexer

The Sametime Connect clients connect to the Community Services multiplexer computer, not the Sametime server. This configuration frees the Sametime server from the burden of managing the live client connections; the multiplexer machine is dedicated to this task.

The Community Services multiplexer maintains a single IP connection to each Sametime server in the cluster.

Up to 10,000 users using standard connectivity

Up to 20,000 users for each Multiplexer

100,000 if using 5 Multiplexer (do the math !)

LDAP authentication / search filter

Set Standards…Users don’t really need to login using first name, last name, short name, email address, common name, etc….

(&(objectclass=organizationalPerson)(|(cn=%s*)(givenname=%s*)(sn=%s*)

(uid=%s*)(mail=%s*)(notesmail=%s*)))

vs

(&(objectclass=organizationalPerson)(|(notesmail=%s*)(uid=%s*)(mail=%s*))))

Sametime.ini – LDAP

ST_DB_LDAP_CONNECTIONS_NUMBER

This parameter increases the number of connections from the Sametime server to the LDAP server(s) specified in stconfig.nsf. The default setting is set to one (1) connection. This setting should never be changed.

ST_DB_LDAP_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL

This parameter defines the duration (in minutes) to wait between keep-alive messages that are sent on idle LDAP connections. 0 means no keep-alive. A keep alive will only be sent when a respray is not scheduled for that minute.

ST_DB_LDAP_PENDING_LOW

This parameter defines the maximum number of requests that can be in flight on the network to the LDAP server before we send out new requests to the LDAP server

ST_DB_LDAP_PENDING_MAX

This parameter defines the total maximum number of requests that can be sent to the LDAP server. After reaching the number specified by ST_DB_LDAP_PENDING_LOW, the Sametime server will send out requests until this value is reached. After reaching this value, the Sametime server will wait for responses from the LDAP server.

ST_DB_LDAP_RESPRAY_INTERVAL

This parameter will define how often (in minutes) the connection to the LDAP server should be dropped and then re-established. This parameter is very important in load balanced or rotating DNS scenarios, as it allows the Sametime server to drop the current connection instead of continuously trying to connect to a non-responsive LDAP server.

ST_DB_LDAP_MAX_RESULTS

Maximum number of entries that may be returned in a single search when searching for people or groups. Default is 1000.

Sametime.ini - LDAP

[Directory]

ST_DB_LDAP_CONNECTIONS_NUMBER=1

ST_DB_LDAP_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL=1

ST_DB_LDAP_PENDING_LOW=30

ST_DB_LDAP_PENDING_MAX=60

ST_DB_LDAP_RESPRAY_INTERVAL=5

ST_DB_LDAP_MAX_RESULTS=100

Reload directory tables

Change search for new users and servers to 12 hrs for users and 24 hrs for servers (evaluate your requirements)

Loopback Cluster document – Community Clusters

A cluster document that includes only the server it resides on and is used to redirect connections to itself.

Sametime Meetings will use local community services

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=477&uid=swg21196034

Make Sametime not Case Sensitive (3 rd Products)

If Update Status fails….(I am available, Do not disturb, I am away)

Sametime resolve =>> uid=lguiriga,cn=users,dc=psc,dc=com

Quickr sends =>> UID=lguiriga,CN=users,DC=psc,DC=com

Update Sametime.ini

Add AWARENESS_CASE_SENSITIVE=0 under [Config]

Append -DAWARENESS_CASE_SENSITIVE=0 to the STLINKS_VM_ARGS under [STLINKS]

Update stlinks.js

Using a text editor set “var STlinksCaseSensitive=false;”

STConf.nsf

Keep it small

Compact –B only

Don’t use –D or -R

Remove old Meeting documents if possible

Enable PurgeMeetings in STConf.nsf

Set STPurgeMeetingPastDays=“n days”

Create a selective replica to another Domino server for archiving

Multiple Sametime Servers

Spread the load of a large user population among multiple servers.

Reduce network usage and improve server performance when you have significant user populations in remote or distributed locations.

Securely extend meetings conducted on a Sametime server inside your network firewall to a Sametime server deployed outside the firewall in your network DMZ. This arrangement allows Internet users to participate in meetings with users on your corporate intranet without compromising network security.

Connecting ST Meeting Servers

Go to Configuration > Connectivity > Servers

Add new Sametime Meeting servers

HTTP Tunneling vs Standard Access

HTTP Tunneling uses port 80 to access all Sametime features

Be aware ! Sametime always tries to use standard connectivity even if HTTP Tunneling is enabled

HTTP Tunneling should be used as a last resource for Web Conferencing.

For a full list of ports used by Sametime go to:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21097949

Screen Size and Resolution

8 Bits

Lower screen resolution for the Web Meeting if sharing your screen

Win2003 Scalable Networking Pack

Sametime client log-ins (Sametime Connect client, Sametime meeting room client, STLinks applications) are intermittently taking up to ten minutes to complete.