Active Directory requirements for Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Below are the minimum requirements for deploying OCS 2007 R2

• Forest and Domain functional level should be atleast Windows 2003
• Domain Functional level must be atleast Windows 2003
• All Domain Controllers in the Forest where OCS 2007 R2 will be deployed must be atleast Windows 2003 with SP1
• All the Global Catalogs in the Domain where OCS 2007 R2 will be deployed must be atleast Windows 2003 with SP1

The Operating system running on a Domain Controller can be 32 bit or 64 bit.

Schema Preparation:
You would need schema admins priviledge as you would be needing to update Schema. It is done through the process called as Schema Preparation. During this process AD Scehma is extended to include classes and attributes that are specific to the Office Communications Server. OCS 2007 R2 introduces some new classes and attributes. So in case if you have OCS 2007 alrady implemented and you are planning to deploy OCS 2007 R2 you would still need to upgrade the schema. This is required to be done once per Forest and is done as part of the installation process.

Forest Preparation:
Forest preparation prepares the following for use by OCS R2

• AD Global settings and objects
• AD Universal groups

This step creates objects that contain global settings and information about your OCS R2 deployment. Global settings are stored either in the Configuration container or in the System container of the forest root domain. This step also creates objects that contain property sets and display specifiers used by OCS R2, and stores them in the Configuration container.
Forest preparation must be performed once for each Active Directory forest where you plan to deploy Office Communications Server. You may decide to store Global settings in the System container or in the Configurations Container. Forest preparation must be done once per Forest.

Domain Preparation:

Domain Preparation is the last step fpr preparing Ad. It adds necessary ACEs to Universal Group that grant permission to host and manage users within the Domain. Domain Preparation must be performed once in each Domain where you plan to deploy OCS R2.

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Automatically accepting meeting request for Resource Mailbox in Exchange 2003

Resource mailbox can be created for any resource. May it be meeting room, Car, projector,...

It is very easy to create resource mailbox with Exchange 2003. More importantly you must configure resource mailbox to automatically accept meeting requests without any conflicts.

I am listing below the steps that would be needed for creating Resource mailbox and automatically accepting meeting requests for the Resource Mailbox.

1. Create a user account named such as MeetingRoom1
2. Configure the Outlook profile using MeetingRoom1 profile.
3. Logon on to this profile in Microsoft Outlook
4. Click on Tool -> Options
5. On the Options windows click on -> on Calendar Options.
6. On the Calendar Options windows click on -> on Resource Scheduling.
7. Based on the requirement we can configure the following
a. Automatically accept meeting requests and process cancellations
b. Automatically decline conflicting meeting requests
c. Automatically decline recurring meeting requests
8. Once done click on OK.


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Hardware and Software prerequisitres for deploying OCS R2

OCS R2 unlike its predecessor comes only with 64 bit edition. That makes the requirement for OCS deployment to have 64 bit Hardware and Operating system. So if you are looking for deploying OCS R2 you would need to have 64 bit Server as well you need to install 64 Bit Operating System. Operating system that needs to be deployed for OCS R2 are listed below.

• The 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise operating system.
• The Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard or Enterprise x64 Edition operating system with Service Pack 2.
• The Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise x64 Edition operating system with SP2.

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