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Unified Communications Analytics 8.6.1 - Deployment Guide

Prerequisites for your installation Installing UC Analytics Configuring UC Analytics Adding data sources for Active Directory or Azure Active Directory Adding data sources, chargeback costs, and thresholds for Exchange and Exchange Online
Permissions needed to collect Exchange on-premises or hybrid data Permissions needed to collect from native Exchange Online Creating an Exchange Configuration data source Creating an Exchange Tracking Logs data source Creating an Exchange Mailbox Contents data source Do I need both Exchange Tracking Logs and Exchange Mailbox Contents collections? Creating an Exchange IIS Logs data source Creating an Exchange Mailbox Content Summary data source Creating an Exchange Calendar data source Creating an Exchange Public Folders data source Adding Exchange Online hybrid data sources for hybrid Office 365 Adding Exchange Online data sources for native Office 365 Setting chargeback costs for Exchange Setting thresholds for Exchange metrics Omitting words when filtering by subject or body
Adding data sources, chargeback costs, and thresholds for Skype for Business/Lync Adding data sources, chargeback, and thresholds for Cisco Managing which insights can seen by users Configuring and managing subscriptions Making changes to your deployment Appendix A:Configuring Impersonation Appendix B:Configuring the Skype for Business or Lync Server Appendix C:Configuring IIS Log Files to capture ActiveSync or OWA events Appendix D:PowerShell cmdlets used by data sources Appendix E:Custom configurations and backup and recovery options Appendix F: Questions and answers about configuration

Architecture

The following are the main services that comprise UC Analytics:

•
Web site (IIS)
•
UC Analytics Data Engine
•
UC Analytics Query Engine
•
UC Analytics Storage Engine

You can install all the services on a single computer or distribute the services across two or more computers. For a distributed installation, the Data Engine and the Query Engine services can be divided into two different roles:

•
collector role
•
insights role
About the web site

All user interaction with the product is done through the UC Analytics web site. You configure your target environments and create your data collections through the web site using the Admin Settings. You also create data classifications and grant users access to specific types of data using the Admin Settings.

You view the collected data through insights and use filters to customize insights to include only the data that you want. You can also export insights and set up subscriptions to automatically export and email specific insights on a regular schedule.

About the Data Engine service

The Data Engine contains all the business logic for the product. It determines how UC Analytics stores data and performs the data collections. The Data Engine includes the custom logic used for insights, licensing, tiles; in short, all the logic that defines UC Analytics as a product.

The Data Engine can be split into two roles:

•
collector role
•
insights role

The collector role is responsible for all the data collections from your environments such as Active Directory, Exchange and Exchange Online, Skype for Business, Lync, and Cisco. It contains the logic associated with retrieving the data.

The insights role is involved with the user interactions with the web site such as launching insights and entering configuration settings.

You can install more than one instance of the Data Engine (Collector) to distribute the data collection load. When you configure a data source to collect data, you have the option to set the specific Data Engine (Collector) that should be used for that data source.

About the Query Engine service

The Query Engine processes all the data that is stored by the Storage Engine. Processing activities can include finding data, counting data values, and aggregating data.

The Query Engine can be split into two roles:

•
collector role
•
insights role

The collector role is responsible for storing data to the Storage Engine, storing it efficiently and merging it with existing stored data. The collector role can be a heavy user of resources such as RAM. For larger environments, spikes in collector role activity could affect the responsiveness of insights if both the collector role and insights role are installed on the same computer.

The insights role is responsible for interacting with the Data Engine (Insights) to handle user activity with the web site such as launching insights and setting configuration. The insights role can also be a heavy user of RAM.

You can install more than one instance of the Query Engine (Collector) to distribute the load of writing the data to storage. If you are distributing the Query Engine (Collector), it is recommended you install a Data Engine (Collector) on the same server, and that a Storage Engine also be installed on that server.

About the Storage Engine service

The Storage Engine is the repository for all the data that you collect and for the settings that you specified when you configured the product. You can install multiple storage engine services to distribute the data storage load across several computers. If you install multiple Storage Engines, the data set is divided across the Storage Engines. There is no redundancy since only one copy of a specific piece of data is stored.

Information stored by the Storage Engine

Data is gathered from a variety of sources. You create data source collections to gather data from Active Directory, from Exchange mailboxes through EWS (Exchange Web Services) and from Exchange tracking logs.

You can also collect from Exchange ActiveSync logs, from Exchange Online through PowerShell, from Skype for Business/Lync CDR and QoE databases, and from Cisco Unified Communications Manager server and from Cisco CDR logs.

The Storage Engine service is used to store the collected information:

•
User, group, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy information from Active Directory.
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Configuration including organization, server, DAG, database status, database copy, mobile device configuration, personal archive and mailbox statistics from the Exchange server.
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Message traffic information gathered from Exchange message tracking logs.
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Message information gathered through EWS (Exchange Web Services).
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Exchange and Exchange Online calendar data such as meetings gathered through EWS (Exchange Web Services).
•
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy rule matches collected from Exchange message tracking logs.
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Mobile device information from Exchange IIS ActiveSync logs.
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Public folder information for Exchange 2010 public folders (legacy) and Exchange 2013/2016/2019 public folders (new).
•
Exchange Online mailbox statistics such as mailbox size, permissions, and mobile devices from hybrid (on-premise and Office 365) and from native Office 365 environments.
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Exchange Online user and group configuration, and mailbox content collected from a native Office 365 deployment.
•
Office 365 user subscription configuration information including licenses and subscribed services such as Exchange Online, Skype for Business Online, and SharePoint Online.
•
Server, pool, and user policy configuration data from the Skype for Business/Lync server
•
Peer-to-peer session and conference data collected from the Skype for Business/Lync Call Detail Recording (CDR) database.
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QoE (Quality of Experience) information from the Skype for Business/Lync QoE database.
•
Configuration end-user data from the Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) server and user data from Active Directory.
•
Peer-to-peer and conference data collected from the Cisco Call Detail Recording (CDR) log files.
Figure 1. UC Analytics services and relationships to your on-premise environments.

Deployment options

There are two main options for installing UC Analytics:

•
Pilot deployment—all services on a single computer, simple configuration.
•
Production deployment—services can be distributed across several computers:
•
Web site & Data Engine (Insights)
•
Data Engine (Collector)
You can install more than one instance of the Data Engine (Collector).
•
Query Engine (Collector)
You can install more than one instance of the Query Engine (Collector).
•
Query Engine (Insights)
•
Storage Engine service.
You can install more than one instance of the Storage Engine.

If you install additional collector roles (Data Engine service and Query Engine service), it is recommended that you have both service collector roles on the same server.

If you install multiple Storage Engines, the data set is divided across the Storage Engines. There is no redundancy since only one copy of a specific piece of data is stored; no multiple copies of data are stored.

You install the Data Engine (Insights) and the web site on the same server for authentication reasons.

Hardware minimum requirements

If you are installing UC Analytics, the computer must meet the following minimum requirements:

 
Table 1. Minimum requirements for hardware.
Type
Minimum

Processor

Minimum: Quad-core 64-bit computer.

RAM

Minimum: 24 GB.

Disk
•
5 GB for the application
•
X GB where X is the required disk space for collected data

For estimates regarding the required disk space for the collected data for different numbers of users for all the platforms, see the UC Analytics Deployment Sizing.xlsx spreadsheet which can be found under Documentation in the autorun.exe.

About NAS/SAN support

Generally, using a NAS/SAN device for the Storage Engine is not supported. UC Analytics might support specific NAS/SAN devices but Quest would require full testing with the devices, or device simulators, to support them. Since each NAS/SAN device, depending on manufacturer, is unique, Quest will work with NAS/SAN vendors to certify or qualify a device but the NAS/SAN vendor must be willing to mutually assist. To engage a NAS/SAN vendor and initiate the qualification process, you would send an email to your NAS/SAN vendor and contact Quest Support.

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