Understanding
Cisco Unified
Communications
Manager
Architecture
Getting Started with Cisco Unified Communications
Manager
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Outline
 Cisco Unified Communications
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager Hardware Requirements
 Cisco Unified Communications Operating System
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager Database
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager Licensing Model
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager Licensing Tools
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications
Architecture
 IP telephony
 Customer contact center
 Video telephony
 Rich-media conferencing
 Third-party applications
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications
Manager
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Functions
 Call processing
 Signaling and device control
 Dial plan administration
 Phone feature administration
 Directory services
 Programming interface to
external applications
 Includes a backup-and-restore
tool (disaster recovery system)
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Signaling and Media Paths
Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Signaling Protocol
Signaling Protocol
(SCCP / SIP)
IP Phone
A
(SCCP / SIP)
Media Exchange — (RTP)
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager performs call
setup and maintenance tasks using a Signaling
Protocol (SCCP/SIP).
IP Phone
B
 Media exchange occurs directly between endpoints
using RTP.
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Hardware, Software, and Clustering
 Complete hardware and software solution (appliance model)
– Factory-installed and field-configured
– Can be installed on Cisco 7800 MCS server platform or on approved third-party
servers from IBM and HP
– No customer access to operating system
 Only GUI and CLI access to appliance system
 Third-party access via documented APIs only
 Supports clusters for redundancy and load sharing
– Provides database redundancy by sharing a common database
– Provides call-processing redundancy by Cisco Unified Communications Manager
groups
– Cluster includes the following:
 One publisher
 Total maximum of 20 servers (“nodes”) running various services, including
TFTP, media resources, conferencing, and call processing
– Maximum of eight nodes can be used for call processing (running the Cisco
Unified Communications Manager service)
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications
Manager Cluster
Publisher
IDS Replication
IDS
IDS
IDS
CTI Manager
IDS
ICCS
IDS
MoH Server
IDS
TFTP Server
IDS
IDS
SW Conf.
IDS
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IDS
Call-Processing Servers
Subscribers
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Hardware Requirements
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Cisco 7800 Series MCS
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager Release 6.0 can be installed on the Cisco
7800 MCS server platforms that are available from Cisco.
 Cisco 7800 MCS server platforms:
– 7816 Series
– 7825 Series
– 7835 Series
– 7845 Series
 Minimum hardware requirements for Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Release 6.0:
– 2 GHz processor
– 2 GB RAM
– 72 GB hard disk
 For detailed model information, check Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Server Support Matrix
– http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/voiceapp/ps378/prod_brochure0900
aecd8062a4f9.html
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Third-Party Hardware Solutions
Approved by Cisco
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Release 6.0 can
also be installed on the following third-party hardware
platforms approved by Cisco:
 HP Server Solutions
– http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6790/ps
5748/ps378/product_solution_overview09186a0080107d79.ht
ml
 IBM Server Solutions
– http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/voiceapp/ps378/prod
_brochure0900aecd80091615.html
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Cisco Unified Communications
Operating System
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Cisco Unified Communications
Operating System
 Appliance operating system (based on Red Hat Linux)
 Operating system updates provided by Cisco
(along with application updates)
 Unnecessary accounts and services disabled
 IDS as the database
 DHCP server
 Cisco Security Agent
 Cisco Unified Communications operating system is also used for
these other Cisco Unified Communications applications:
– Cisco Emergency Responder 2.0
– Cisco Unity Connection 2.0
– Cisco Unified Presence 6.0
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Cisco Unified Communications
Operating System Access
 Root and other common default accounts of native operating
system disabled.
 No native operating system access.
– Only Cisco CLI and GUI can be used.
– Cisco CLI can be used to troubleshoot GUI access.
 No access to native operating system debug interfaces.
– Traces, alarms, and counters can be enabled and monitored
through Cisco CLI and GUI.
 No direct access to file system.
– Only some files and directories accessible through Cisco CLI
and GUI.
 Customer can activate remote account support for specific time
for Cisco TAC access.
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Database
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Cisco Unified Communications Database
 IBM IDS database stores
– Static configuration data:
 Servers and enabled services within the cluster
 Devices (phones, gateways, and trunks)
 Users, dial plan, etc.
– Dynamic data utilized by user-facing features:
 Call Forward All, MWI
 Privacy, DND
 Hunt group login status, etc.
 Basically a single master database model
– R/W database access only for publisher (read-only for subscribers)
– Exception: Subscribers do allow R/W access for user-facing features
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Services That Rely On The Publisher
Component
Function
When
CCMAdmin
Provisions everything
Always
CCMUser
Provisions user settings
Always
BAT
Provisions everything
Always
TAPS
Updates device records
Always
AXL
Provisions everything
Always
AXIS-SOAP
Enables and disables services
Sometimes
CCM
Inserts phones
Autoregistration only
LDAP Sync
Updates End-user table
Always (local)
License Audit
Updates License tables
Always (local)
These services are not available in the event of a publisher failure.
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User-Facing Features
 Call Forward All (CFA)
 Message Waiting Indication (MWI)
 Privacy Enable/Disable
 Do Not Disturb Enable/Disable (DND)
 Extension Mobility Login (EM)
 Hunt Group Logout
 Device Mobility
 CTI CAPF status for end users and application users
 Credential hacking and authentication
These features do not rely on the availability of the publisher because
necessary data can be written to subscribers.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Release 6.0 Database Replication
 Replication is fully meshed.
Publisher
(all data writable)
Subscriber
(User-facing
features
writable)
Subscriber
(User-facing
features
writable)
Subscriber
(User-facing
features
writable)
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Most data are still hub-andspoke (replicated from
publisher to subscribers).
 Only user-facing features
data are writable on a
subscriber and bidirectionally
replicated between all
servers.
Subscriber
(User-facing
features
writable)
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Database Access Control
Publisher
Subscriber
Firewall
Subscriber:
DB access
permitted
Other:
DB Access
Denied
 DB access between members of a cluster is protected
– By IP access control (dynamic firewall "iptables")
– By security password
 Special configuration procedure required to enable database access for subscribers
– At publisher, using Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, add
subscriber to list of servers before installation of subscriber
– During subscriber installation, enter same DB security password that was
configured during installation of publisher
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Licensing Model
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Licensing
 There are three types of licenses.
– Software license is required for using CUCM 6 software.
– Device license units required for devices (phones).
– Node licenses required for each call-processing Cisco Unified
Communications Manager server within the cluster.
 Licenses are required per cluster and provided by license files.
 License file is bound to MAC address of publisher (running the
licensing service).
 Cisco Unified CM cluster continues to work if licensing service is
stopped (but no configuration changes allowed).
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Device License Units
 Amount of device license units
depends on device type and
device capabilities.
– Cisco phone or third-party
phone
– Number of lines
– Video capabilities
– Etc.
 Number of units required per
device can be viewed from Cisco
Unified Communications
Manager Administration.
Device License Units
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License File Specifics
 The license file contains the following information:
– MAC address of the license server (publisher)
– Version (major release) of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager
software
– Number of node licenses
– Number of device license units
 License files are additive (multiple license files can be loaded).
 Cisco FlexLM process is used to obtain licenses.
 License file integrity is assured by a digital signature.
 Upgrade considerations
– From Cisco Unified CallManager Release 4.x
 An interim license file is created during upgrade.
 No changes possible until replaced by real license file.
– From Unified Cisco Unified CallManager Release 5.x
 A software license has to be added (Cisco Unified CM 5.x only required
node licenses and device license units).
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Example License File
1000 Device License Units
INCREMENT PHONE_UNIT cisco 6.0 permanent uncounted \
VENDOR_STRING=<Count>1000</Count><OrigMacId>000BCD4EE59D</OrigMacId>
<LicFileVersion>1.0</L icFileVersion> \
HOSTID=000bcd4ee59d
NOTICE="<LicFileID>20050826140539162</LicFileID><LicLineID>2</LicLineID> \
<PAK></PAK>" SIGN="112D 17E4 A755 5EDC F616 0F2B B820 AA9C \
0313 A36F B317 F359 1E08 5E15 E524 1915 66EA BC9F A82B CBC8 \
4CAF 2930 017F D594 3E44 EBA3 04CD 01BF 38BA BF1B"
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License File Request Process (FlexLM)
Customer
Place Order
PAK
PAK
MAC
Ship
Web
E-Mail
License
Server
Cisco.com
Generate
License
File
Install
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Obtaining Additional Licenses
Current
License File
100 units
Order for
additional
100 units
Ne
w
100 units
License
Server
200 units
Obtaining additional device units and nodes licenses uses
the same process as obtaining a new license file.
 The customer places an order for the additional licenses for a license
server (MAC address of publisher).
 When the order is received, Cisco.com generates a license file with
the additional count.
 This new license file will have to be uploaded to the license server and
will be cumulative.
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Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Licensing Tools
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Licensing Functional Diagram
 License Server:
Keeps track of licenses
purchased and used.
 License Manager:
Cisco Unified
Communications
Manager service acts
as a broker between
Cisco Unified CM
applications that use
licensing information
and the license server.
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Request (1)
Request (2)
Admin
Subsystem
Response (4)
Alarm
Subsystem
License
Manager
Async-Notification
(for Deny)(5)
License
Server
Grant or
Deny (3)
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Licensing Functional Diagram (Cont.)
 Administration subsystem
– Keeps information about the license
units required for each phone type
– Provides license unit calculator
Request (1)
Admin
Subsystem
– Displays the total license capacity and
the number of licenses in use
 Alarm subsystem provides alarms for
following conditions:
License
Manager
Response (4)
Alarm
Subsystem
Async-Notification
(for Deny)(5)
– Overdraft
– License server down
Unified CM
– Insufficient licenses
– License file version mismatch
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Calculating License Units
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration includes a license
calculator that displays the amount of units consumed per device and calculates
the total amount of required units for a given number of devices.
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Generating License Unit Report
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration includes a license
unit report that displays the number of authorized, used, and remaining
license units.
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Uploading License File
License file upload steps
1. Ensure that you have
downloaded the license file to a
local PC.
2. From the PC, log in to Cisco
Unified Communications
Manager Administration.
3. Go to System > Licensing >
License File Upload.
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Uploading License File (Cont.)
4. Click Upload License File.
5. Click Browse to choose the license file from local directory.
6. Click Upload.
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Uploading License File (Cont.)
7. Click Continue after the file is validated.
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Summary
 Cisco Unified Communications is a comprehensive
communications system of voice, video, data, and mobility
products and applications over a single network infrastructure
using standards-based Internet Protocol.
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager functions include call
processing, signaling and device control, dial plan administration,
phone feature administration, directory services, and a
programming interface.
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager must be installed on a
supported Cisco MCS platform or third-party server hardware
approved by Cisco.
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Summary (Cont.)
 Access to the system is only allowed through the use of Cisco CLI
and GUI tools.
 Cisco Unified Communications Manager uses an Informix
Dynamic Server (IDS) database, and configuration information in
the database is replicated from the first node to all subsequent
nodes within a cluster.
 Three type of licenses are required: devices, applications, and
software.
 License files are uploaded using Cisco Unified Communications
Manager Administration GUI.
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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