Byron Spurlock has put up a post about Lync Monitoring at WindowsITPro.com.
Why Should You Monitor Microsoft Lync Server 2013? – Windows IT Pro
The post is very well-detailed. It makes a solid case for deploying the Monitoring Server role in just about every Lync Server 2013 installation.
I insist that everyone read his post. Really, I can’t do a better job of explaining why admins should monitor Lync Server.
All I’ll do in this week’s post is list a couple ways Monitoring Reports have helped us out. And a couple warnings to keep in mind with regards to Monitoring.
2 Results Monitoring Helped With
RESULT #1: After we installed Lync Server 2013 earlier this year, some users reported trouble connecting remotely on their phones. We checked Monitoring Reports, and determined that remote access had enough bandwidth. In-office calls worked well.
Maybe it was a version problem? Sure enough, people with Lync 2010 on their phones couldn’t connect, while people with Lync 2013 could. We updated the Client Version Policy to encourage 2013 adoption, and everyone was fine.
RESULT #2: At a client site this summer, phone calls were frequently dropped. When they did connect, call quality was terrible. We checked the usual issues – low Enterprise Voice bandwidth, configuration – but it seemed okay. The client did not have Monitoring Server installed.
We added it to their Front End, and checked back a week later. The Monitoring Reports revealed that jitter was horrible – over 30ms, I think. The problem was in one of their wireless routers – it just wasn’t up to the job of VoIP. We replaced it and their jitter problems went away.
2 Warnings to Keep in Mind with Monitoring
WARNING #1: Adding Monitoring does increase the hardware requirements on your Front End server. And you’ll need to put SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) on your DB server. More server roles, more processing & memory power needed. It isn’t much more, but factor this in when laying out your topology.
WARNING #2: Monitoring doesn’t cover everything. In 2011 I wrote What Monitoring Server Monitors – and What It Doesn’t. In the post I mentioned that Monitoring Server does not report on the Windows Server Lync is hosted on, nor on non-Lync applications. This was in reference to 2010, but it still holds true.
(Hmm. I should write an updated version of that.)
That’s all I want to add. Byron, you did a great job with your post. Now that you’ve read mine, make sure to go read his!
Do you have Monitoring Server installed right now? What do you use its reports for the most?