MediaSense supports specification-based virtualization. With this feature, Cisco extensively tests a number of specific hardware configurations (known as the tested reference configurations (TRC)), and then derives a set of specifications by which a partner or customer can select equivalent hardware models either from Cisco or from other vendors.

There are differences in the level of support that Cisco TAC provides for different hardware solutions. For more information, see the http:/​/​docwiki.cisco.com/​wiki/​UC_​Virtualization_​Supported_​Hardware wiki page.

A detailed list of TRC models and supported server specifications can be found at the Virtualization for Cisco MediaSense wiki page.

Server configurations are divided into those that have direct attached disks (DAS) and those that do not. For diskless servers, you must provision Fibre Channel SAN. For DAS servers, Fibre Channel SAN is optional. It is important to ensure that the selected server can support sufficient disk space to store the amount of media storage required and that it meets the minimum disk configuration and performance specifications cited on the virtualization wiki.

When ordering C-series servers, be sure to include either battery backup or the Super Cap option for the write cache.

A VMware hypervisor is required. MediaSense is not designed to run on bare metal hardware.

For a list of supported hypervisors, see the Cisco MediaSense Compatibility Matrix wiki page.

MediaSense uses storage for two purposes: one set of disks holds the operating software and databases, and the other set is used for media storage. The two kinds of storage have very different performance and capacity requirements. Thin provisioning is not supported for any MediaSense disks.

Recorded Media Storage— Up to 60 terabytes is supported per cluster, divided into 12 TB in each of five servers. This is the theoretical maximum, which could only be attained if you are using SAN storage. If you are using Directly Attached Disks (DAS), then you are limited to the physical space available in the server.

Uploaded Media Storage— Uploaded media requires much less storage, but can also support up to 60 terabytes, divided into 12 TB in each of five servers.

If you are using Directly Attached Disks (DAS), then the first two disks (for operating software and database) must be configured as RAID 10.

If you are using SAN, note that only Fibre Channel-attached SAN is supported, and the SAN must be selected according to Cisco's specifications for supported SAN products (see "Cisco Unified Communications on the Cisco Unified Computing System" at http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​go/​swonly). SAN storage must be engineered to meet or exceed the disk performance specifications for each MediaSense virtual machine. These specifications are per node. If the nodes are sharing the same SAN, then the SAN must be engineered to support these specifications, times the number of nodes. For security purposes, you can use an encrypted SAN for media storage as long as the specifications at the link below can still be met.

For information about current disk performance specifications for MediaSense, see the Virtualization for Cisco MediaSense wiki page.

UCS-E router blade modules come with fixed disk hardware and MediaSense scalability limits for each type of module are designed according to their actual performance characteristics. You do not need to engineer their disk arrays to meet the specifications. However, all of the drives should be manually configured as RAID-1.

Also, for these modules, the required downloadable .OVA template automatically cuts the disks into two 80-GB drives and one 210-GB drive, formatted. For those modules that have additional disk space available, you can configure the additional space for either uploaded media or recorded media as best suits your application.

MediaSense depends only on the versions of Unified Communications Manager and Cisco IOS. There is no particular dependency on Unified CVP or Unified CCE.

However, for deployments that include both MediaSense and Unified CVP where the two products will be sharing the same router, the Cisco IOS release running on that router must be one that is compatible with both products. It is important to verify this in the compatibility matrix for each product at deployment time.

For current compatibility matrix information about MediaSense, see the Cisco MediaSense Compatibility Matrix wiki page.

The following table is a partial list of supported devices and codecs.

Web browsers are used for accessing the Serviceability and Administration functions on MediaSense servers. For more information on browsers supported by MediaSense 10.5(1), see the Browser Compatibility Support table at:

http:/​/​docwiki.cisco.com/​wiki/​Cisco_​MediaSense_​Compatibility_​Matrix

When running the Search and Play application through one of the browsers, a minimum version of the Java JDK or Java JRE must be installed, depending on the underlying operating system.

MediaSense can be upgraded from one previous release to the next. If you are upgrading from an earlier release, you will need to upgrade through each intervening version first. Upgrades from releases prior to 8.5(4) are not supported.

Note	To check which releases can be directly upgraded to the current release, see the MediaSense Release Notes at http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​c/​en/​us/​support/​customer-collaboration/​mediasense/​products-release-notes-list.html.

Each successive release contains minor changes to the MediaSense API, that are always upward compatible, but with one exception. The exception is between Release 8.5(4) and 9.0(1), in which security enhancements were introduced. Those enhancements require that client software be modified in order to provide HTTP-BASIC credentials and to handle a 302 redirect. This applies to all RTSP streaming and HTTP download requests.

A new VMware VM template was provided in Release 9.1(1) that provisions 16 GB of memory rather than the 8 GB that was required in Release 9.0(1) and earlier. For any server being upgraded to 9.1(1), the VM configuration must be manually adjusted to reserve this increased amount of memory.

A new feature was added in Release 9.1(1) that permits recorded media storage to be increased in size after installation. However, this feature is not available in systems upgraded from prior releases; it only functions in systems that have been fresh-installed with Release 9.1(1) or later. The new uploaded media partition introduced in Release 9.1(1) is automatically created during upgrade and does support the capability to be increased in size after installation.

If you upgrade a MediaSense cluster from Release 9.0(1) to 9.1(1) or later, and then want to add nodes to your cluster, be aware that although the new nodes will be installed with expandable recorded media storage, Cisco does not support that flexibility. Provision approximately the same amount of recording space on each new node as is available on each upgraded node. Although storage space disparity across nodes in the cluster does not present a problem for MediaSense, it could result in pruning ahead of the configured retention period on smaller nodes. Administrators may find this behavior unpredictable.

Note

Upgrading MediaSense from versions prior to 10.5 to 10.5 (including its ES and SU releases) or 11.0 (including any ES & SU) will fail if the RecordingSession table has more than 2.5 million records unless a workaround is applied. For more information on the workaround, refer to https:/​/​techzone.cisco.com/​t5/​Cisco-MediaSense/​Upgrading-to-MediaSense-10-5-or-later-with-large-amounts-of-data/​ta-p/​680809 A node can take several hours to upgrade depending on the number and size of recordings it holds. Ensure that you are prepared to wait several hours to complete the upgrade. For MediaSense Release 10.5, when you upgrade a node with very large data sets, it takes around 90 additional minutes per 1 million recordings.

For the up-to-date specifics, see the following wiki locations:

• http:/​/​docwiki.cisco.com/​wiki/​Virtualization_​for_​Cisco_​MediaSense
• http:/​/​docwiki.cisco.com/​wiki/​Cisco_​MediaSense_​on_​UCSE
• http:/​/​docwiki.cisco.com/​wiki/​Cisco_​MediaSense_​Compatibility_​Matrix