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Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing Release 6.x
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Index
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Preface
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Introducing Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Configuring Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Configuring Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing for Optimal Data Storage
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Configuring User Authentication in Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Configuring External Access to Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Configuring WebConnect
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Monitoring and Maintaining Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Using Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Troubleshooting Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing
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Appendix A: Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing and SQL Server
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Appendix B: Configuring Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Cisco Unified IP Phone
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Appendix C: Configuring Multiserver Meetings
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Table Of Contents
Configuring Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing for Optimal Data Storage
About Web Conferencing Data Storage
About the MeetingNotes Purge Parameter
About the MeetingNotes Purge Parameter and SMA-2S Configurations
File Access and Retrieval Behavior
Setting the Purge Meetings Held Before Parameter
Configuring Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing for Optimal Data Storage
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing is designed to manage itself automatically with minimal administrative activities, such as modifying the polling schedules and purging. However, it is important to consider the potential impact that Web Conferencing can have on network and hardware resources.
See the following sections:
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About Web Conferencing Data Storage
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About Web Conferencing Data Storage
Storage space is required for both audio and web recordings and data attachments, referred to collectively as MeetingNotes. It is important to plan for the system demand (disk space) that this kind of storage will require through proper configuration and management.
By default, the Web Conferencing server stores all MeetingNotes for meetings held on the server on a local disk. You can change the storage configuration to copy MeetingNotes to an external backup location (such as a shared network drive on a dedicated storage server, a network-attached storage device, or a storage area network).
Note
See the following sections:
Recording Size
Even if no documents are shared during a recorded meeting, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing periodically records the meeting console and converts the recording into a synchronized voice and web Flash format. If no audio participants join the meeting, the meeting console is recorded in Flash format without the voice component.
Table 3-1 lists the approximate disk space required for voice-only recordings and the additional disk space required for each web collaboration mode. A web conference can consist of application sharing, a presentation, whiteboard, and annotations. With screen sharing, the actual size of the recording depends on the screen sharing resolution, how often the screen changes, and how well the data compresses.
Configuring Shared Storage
By default, the Web Conferencing server stores all MeetingNotes content for meetings held on the server in a content folder on the local disk. We recommend that you change the storage configuration to copy content to a shared external backup location (such as a shared network drive on a dedicated storage server, a network-attached storage device, or a storage area network).
When you configure shared storage for a Web Conferencing server or for a cluster of servers, content is copied to the primary external storage device and pulled to the local content folder on each Web Conferencing server in the cluster as needed. You specify a Content Cache Size which determines the percentage of disk space that is taken up by the local content folder before old content is automatically purged to make room for new content. This configuration frees resources on the local server, which is especially helpful in a large cluster of Web Conferencing servers.
Do the following procedure to configure shared storage.
To Configure Shared Storage
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Storage Maintenance
For optimal space usage, we recommend the following best practices:
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About the Replication Service
The Cisco MeetingPlace Replication Service automatically synchronizes the local web server database with that of the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Audio Server to update meetings, user profiles, and user group information. The following occurs by default:
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The Replication Service copies attachments and voice and web files from the Audio Server and stores the replicated files on the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web server. Pointers to these files are then created in the database. The Replication Service downloads voice files in their native Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Voice (.mpv) format. After voice files are downloaded, the Replication Service queues jobs for conversion by the Audio Service.
Meetings and their associated recordings and attachments, collectively referred to as MeetingNotes, are purged from the local web server database after 60 days. To change this, see the "Setting the Purge Meetings Held Before Parameter" section.
If you have Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Video Integration installed, the replication service also replicates video terminal user profile information and service codes from Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Video Administration (service codes are referred to as meeting types or service prefixes in Video Administration). By default, this replication occurs every 7 days. To change this, see the "Importing Video Terminal User Profiles" section on page 2-24.
In the event of a system failure, you can manually invoke the Replication Service update and purge operations. Allow up to 20 minutes for any changes made to the Replication Service to take effect.
See the following sections:
Updating All Meetings
Complete this procedure to force meeting attachments and recordings for all meetings to be downloaded again from each Audio Server. Allow 20 minutes for changes to take effect.
To Update All Meetings
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A new set of files is created including encoded audio files in the desired formats. If MeetingNotes have already been purged from a particular Audio Server, an update for those meetings still takes place. In addition to attachments and recording files, group and profile information and new meetings are also updated.
Step 4
Purging All Meetings
When a meeting is purged, all meeting attachments and WAV files on the web conferencing server are deleted except for any Windows Media files (.wma). If you configured Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing to create pointers to these files in meeting-specific folders, such as drive:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\MPWeb\Meetings, these pointers are also deleted when you purge meetings.
To force the web server to delete all meeting information and files stored locally and on the shared backup storage location (if configured), complete the following procedure. Choose this option when you are low on disk space.
Allow 20 minutes for changes to take effect.
To Purge All Meetings
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Updating All User Profiles
This procedure describes how to update the user profile database on the local web server. Allow 20 minutes for changes to take effect.
To Update All User Profiles
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Tip
Updating All Video Terminals
This procedure describes how to update the video terminal profile database on the local web server. The amount of time the replication takes depends on the number of video terminals; for example, allow 20 minutes to replicate up to 1000 video terminals.
To Update All Video Terminals
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Updating All Groups
This procedure describes how to update the user group database on the local web server. Allow 20 minutes for changes to take effect.
To Update All Groups
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Updating a Single Meeting
If you want to download meeting attachments and recordings for a particular meeting from all Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Audio Server systems, you can update that single meeting.
Restrictions
The update will not take place if MeetingNotes have already been purged from the Audio Server system.
To Update a Single Meeting
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About the MeetingNotes Purge Parameter
Each Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web server has its own purge parameter called Purge Meetings Held Before (Days). By configuring this parameter, you can control how often meetings and their associated recordings and attachments, collectively referred to as MeetingNotes, are purged from the local web server database and from the shared storage location, if configured. The default is after 60 days.
See the following sections:
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About the MeetingNotes Purge Parameter and SMA-2S Configurations
If you have a segmented meeting access configuration with two web servers (SMA-2S), two Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web servers work together as a single system. One web server is installed internally behind the corporate firewall and is accessible only to internal users. The second web server is installed as an external server with attend-only access, and is located outside of the corporate firewall in a DMZ zone. In this type of configuration, each web server—internal or external—has its own purge parameter.
The value of this parameter controls how long MeetingNotes are stored on the server after a meeting is over. For example, if you set the purge parameter on your internal web server to 60 days, MeetingNotes are kept for 60 days on the internal server. After 60 days, they are deleted from that server. If you set the purge parameter on your external server to 30 days, MeetingNotes are kept for 30 days on the external server. After 30 days, they are deleted from that server.
After MeetingNotes are purged, users can no longer review past meetings, including:
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The following sections provide information about internal server and DMZ server behaviors:
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File Access and Retrieval Behavior
The behavior that users see when they attempt to review past meetings differs depending on whether they are accessing the past meeting from an internal server or the external server.
Example
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Purge Value Consistency
If the meeting was public, the web recording only exists on the external (DMZ) server. Therefore, even though you cannot access MeetingNotes (attachments and recordings) directly from the DMZ server after the first day, keep the purge window the same on both the internal server and the DMZ server to ensure that users have access to all MeetingNotes.
Example
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Setting the Purge Meetings Held Before Parameter
The Purge Meetings Held Before parameter affects the length of time meeting information is kept on both the local server and the shared storage location, if configured.
To Set the Purge Meetings Held Before Parameter
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About Audio Conversion
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing includes an Audio Service component that converts Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Voice (.mpv) files to WAV format and then to other audio formats, such as Windows Media (.wma), and MP3. The WAV file is used by Web Conferencing to create a synchronized audio and web recording.
See the following sections:
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To Convert Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Voice Files to WAV Format
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing uses a proprietary audio service to convert audio files to WAV format. WAV files are typically supported by common web browsers and do not require that users have dedicated players.
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The higher the bit size, the better the quality and the larger the file size. The default and recommended value is 16.
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To Convert Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Voice Files to MP3 Format
Web Conferencing is bundled with the LAME encoder for converting audio files to MP3 format. To listen to such recordings, users must have an MP3 player on their desktops.
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To Convert Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Voice Files to Windows Media Format
Web Conferencing is bundled with the Windows Media Encoder, which converts audio files to WMA format by default. To listen to such recordings, users must have a player on their desktops that plays WMA files, such as Windows Media Player.
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To Configure the Windows Media Server
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing supports Windows Media Server to stream audio recording playbacks. This component is installed as part of the Cisco MCS OS release.
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