By Will Kelly
I was drawn to the Deploying and Configuring Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Virtual Lab because I’ve been looking at better ways to deploy Office Communications Server 2007 and refresh my understanding about the relationship between Office Communications Server 2007 and Active Directory. The lab seemed like a good way to get a sense of how to deploy and configure Office Communications Server 2007 with Active Directory.
The lab starts with important information about configuring Active Directory in preparation for OCS. The lab shows how with a few clicks, you can easily prepare the schema from a domain controller and then prepare the forest and domain from the Office Communications Server 2007 – key first steps for securing your Office Communications Server 2007 implementation.
The lab then moves forward into creating the Active Directory schema and how to create the Active Directory forest. The Active Directory schema and forest
After walking you through how the schema and Forest setup, the lab then walks you through a few clicks through the setup interface how to setup an Active Directory domain to support your Office Communications Server 2007 implementation.
-Now with the Active Directory setup complete, the next lab exercise covers how to install, configure, and validate Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. The lab leads you through a replicable process that you can put into practice when it is time to do the real thing in a production environment.
First, the lab walks you through methodically how to install Office Communications Server 2007:
After completing the installation process, the lab takes you through the all important Office Communications Server 2007 configuration steps:
Next, the lab walks you through configuring security certificates. Security certificates are one of the big drawing cards for deploying OCS and ridding your corporate desktops of consumer IM clients once and for all.
The lab maintains a smooth and stead y pace and walks you through starting up Office Communications Server 2007 services. Starting up services enables
Now that the services are up and running, the lab walks you through the important steps of validating server functionality so you know that Office Communications Server 2007 is running. Next, the lab walks you through how to configure IIS to use the new certificate further ensuring your Office Communications Server 2007 implementation is secure.
The lab finishes off by walking through how to configure DNS for Office Communications Server 2007. In all, this lab provides a great walk through that quickly got me up to speed on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 deployment and configuration without having to rack machines in my favorite server room. You can walk through the lab yourself here:
Deploying and Configuring Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Virtual Lab