The new version of Sametime (8.5.1) has a lot to offer but has the Domino Admins who have supported what is now Sametime Classic a bit weary about the WAS component of a deployment. For good reason, not a lot of pre-8.5 shops have migrated over. My advice: Don’t Sweat It! I have come up with a nice check list of what a Domino (and WAS) admin should consider when planning a 8.5.1.x deployment:
- Know and own AD
- Pick a platform you/your company plans to support long-term
- Decide what meetings mean to your users/company – long and short term
- Does this need to go external, have mobile support, or extend to non-Sametime communities (Yahoo!, AIM, G-Talk)
Active Directory
I have been on multiple client sites that have hit stumbling blocks initially with this. You get nowhere without a good directory. It supports the biggies (eDir, MSAD, etc) and for those companies that use multiple directories pick one, clean it up and use it. Figure out photos, names, nicknames and so on – it all helps to lay this groundwork.
Platform Selection
Obviously, picking a platform that you are comfortable and willing to support for a long while is important. But also, make certain you have the ability to scale that platform. A simple Sametime IM deployment is simple but when you get into Meetings, Proxy, Media Manager, Gateway and Advanced – it gets BIG. There is no way around it, this product takes up LPAR’s like no ones business when you install the full-breadth of the application and when you add HA/DR you can pretty much double that. The good thing about this is that previous versions really weren’t ready for a full enterprise deployment. 8.5.1 brings you to the business with tools to handle anything they can throw at you.
Meetings
In the simplest form, you install Sametime 8.5.1 on a Domino server and use Classic Meetings. You can cluster that for HA without even touching a WAS instance. But in 8.5.1, Meetings are the same but better – A LOT BETTER. I think the biggest value in not rolling out Classic Meeting is the Java that runs for Classic to happen. The minute I walked a client through the new meetings they were ASTONISHED and very happy. Its quick, simple and robust.
Do you need video? If so, the quality of Meetings in conjunction Media Manager is great. What about UC/Audio? Click to Dial is a great feature that can really only be well-experienced in Meetings. NOTE: Video outside the firewall isn’t supported YET – see below.
Extending Sametime – Advanced, Mobile, Web, External and non-ST chat
For those who look at Advanced and say WAS 6??? DB2 9.1??? A newer version of Advanced is due to come out in Q1 2011 that brings everything up to par with the current versions of ST 8.5.1/2/ But the features of Advanced really sell heavy users of IM/Meetings/Business Continuity/DR – worth the wait.
When you start looking at mobile and web support to add a branch to the install with Proxy, but its a light application so if you are doing a Meetings deployment, tagging that on to that server is a good idea – heck it barely adds an hour to the install.
For external Meetings and external chat, there needs to be a bit more planning around where to drop the servers to allow external meetings and where to put Gateway – no mind bending discussion aside from clearing Security for external IM/Meetings.
The skinny
ALL THIS CAN BE DONE WITH DOMINO SKILLS (and maybe some InfoCenter help)! A basic Sametime with Classic Meetings install can be done simply without the System Console in less than a day, with the Console it can be done within a day. System Console is the key to your success and really bundles over 100 install-shields into a Domino (and WAS) Admin friendly GUI. You can get the Console, Sametime Classic and Meetings done within 2 days. When you add Media Manager (3 Linux or WIN boxes) everything can get done in 2-4 days. A full-blown install with basic clustering would take a week to ten days. The rule of thumb is if you THINK you might do Meetings sometime down the line install the Community server with the System Console. It will get your feet wet to the process.
This can be done. You can do it and its always good to add another skill set (WAS) to your tool belt.
