Lync 2010 Group Chat Terminology and Concepts

 

Topic Last Modified: 2011-01-31

• Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
  Directory services program that stores information and settings of an organization in a central database. Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat synchronizes with AD DS to maintain current user information.

• Chat History
  Feature that provides content history of logged chat rooms, including contextual chat history (messages from previous sessions still shown in the message area on logged chat rooms) and searchable history (messages no longer shown on logged chat rooms, but still available to search).

• Chat Room Server
  Server that provides core functionality for Microsoft Lync 2010 Group Chat, except for file posting, which is managed through Web Services.

• Compliance
  Lync 2010 Group Chat feature that, if configured, archives a comprehensive record of both logged and unlogged Lync Server 2010, Group Chat activity. All data (Group Chat Server, files, stories, images, and other data) that is posted by a user can be recorded as events and archived.

  Note

  Instant messaging (IM) content is not archived, unless archiving is configured in Microsoft Lync Server 2010, in which case, it is archived by the Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Archiving Server. The Lync Server 2010, Archiving Server supports archiving of IM content, conferencing (meeting) content, or both. For details about Archiving Server, see Planning for Archiving in the Planning documentation.

• Compliance Adapters
  Feature that is configured to specify how compliance data is managed by Lync Server 2010, Group Chat, including the folder where compliance output is retained, whether full user details are included in the output, and the window of time used to split output into multiple files.

• Compliance Repository
  Folder where copies of all files in the file repository are stored as part of the compliance system.

• Federated Group Chat
  Group Chat feature that enables members of different organizations to post and access Group Chat content in Group Chat rooms.

• File Repository
  Root directory where uploaded Group Chat files are stored.

• Group Chat
  The Group Chat client that is used to post and access chat room content—including files, links, and text—and to exchange instant messages between two users.

• Group Chat Feature
  Feature that enables multiple members of a Group Chat room to post persistent Group Chat content for access by other members of the Group Chat room and to view Group Chat content posted by other members. The Group Chat feature requires deployment of Group Chat and Group Chat Server.

• Group Chat Rooms
  Topic-specific chat rooms (similar to discussion forums) for Group Chat sessions.

• Group Chat Server
  Program that provides the server-side Group Chat features, including Group Chat Server, Lookup Servers, database access, and optional Compliance Servers, and administration and configuration tools that are used to enable Group Chat users to post Group Chat content and share it with other users.

• Instant Messaging (IM)
  Feature available in Group Chat, Lync Server 2010, and other software that enables two individual users to communicate with each other in real time. In Group Chat, IM content is not persistent—unlike Group Chat content in a Group Chat room, it is available only to the two participating clients during the session. Lync Server is responsible for all the IM in Group Chat.

• Lync Server
  The Microsoft product that provides enterprise-ready IM, presence, and conferencing in a single offering. Group Chat Server uses Lync Server as its IM backbone. Lync Server provides authentication, message delivery, and session management, and user presence and user ID information for instant messages. It also enables federated Group Chat conversations and is responsible for archiving all IM it processes, including Group Chat Server instant messages.

• Persistence
  Group Chat feature that enables Group Chat content to be retained after the end of a Group Chat session and accessed on an ongoing basis.

• Presence
  Real-time connection status information for users.

• Server Pool
  A group that consists of multiple Lookup Servers and Chat Room Servers that supports communication and the sharing of data between servers and the implementation of optional load balancing and failover.

• Session
  The time period during which Group Chat is connected to Group Chat Server.

• SQL Server Database
  The database in Microsoft SQL Server database software that stores persistent data, including backchat, chat rooms, categories, rights, and permissions.

• Web Services
  The service that is used to post files to chat rooms. Internet Information Services (IIS) hosts Web Services.