MCU Capacity Exploration

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MCU Capacity Exploration More for RE Trends
Workshop

• Tim Poe
• Multimedia Services Architect

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About MCNCMCNC is an independent, non-profit
organization that employs advanced Internet
networking technologies and systems to
continuously improve learning and collaboration
throughout North Carolina's K-20 education
community. MCNC provides advanced communications
technologies and support services that enable
access to 21st century learning applications and
offers the opportunity to improve teaching,
learning, research, and collaboration among North
Carolinas education community.
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Problem
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MCNC is faced with a pending dilemma of how to
prepare for an anticipated tsunami of video
conferencing soft endpoint use.
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MCU ports are expensive. We currently pay in the
neighborhood of 1,425 per port, per year (3 year
life cycle) for standard definition (SD) ports
and approximately 2,850 per port, per year (3
year life cycle) for high definition (HD) ports.
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Expansion Options
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MCU Blade Purchases
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The simplest way to accommodate growth is to
simply purchase additional SD, HD, or TIP blades,
as indicated by growing demand.
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• Fully integrated with TMS scheduling.
• Fully compatible with other Cisco infrastructure.
• Fully compatible with internal dial plans.
• Fully integrated with voice integration across
  all MCUs.
• Support for standards-based video encryption.
• Support for H.239 data sharing.
• The 8510 blades can be cascaded together
  (currently 3 blades, soon 4 blades - cascading
  ability of like cards).
• Fully compatible with internal dial plans.
• Highest level of interoperability on the market.

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Select Proprietary/Non-H.323/Non-SIP Soft
Endpoint with a Lower Per-Port MCU Capability
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There are some non-standards software endpoints
with their own proprietary MCU solutions that
costs significantly less that standards-based MCU
ports.
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Vidyo. While based on video encoding standards,
Vidyo will not interact with standards-based
video conferencing infrastructure without a Vidyo
Gateway. That said, the per-port cost for Vidyo
multipoint infrastructure (including gateway
services, multipoint services, and licensing) is
approximately 450 per port, per year (3 year
life cycle).
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Vidyo can integrate with standards-based
endpoints in one of two ways
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In the first example, endpoints dial directly
into our MCU, and are cascaded with Vidyo
endpoints.
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In the illustration, a seventeen-person
continuous presence video conference is
simulated. Eight of the callers come directly
into our MCU through various endpoints. The
additional 9 participants shown in the lower
right-hand portion of the screen join via Vidyos
separate multipoint server, which has been
bridged to our MCU. This drawback must be
balanced against the benefits of managing
endpoints with our current infrastructure.
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In the second example, all endpoints dial into
the Vidyo infrastructure. This provides equal
video real estate within a multipoint call, and
does not require Vidyo ports for non Vidyo soft
endpoints. However, this solution does not take
advantage of the granular control provided by
other infrastructure currently in place (TMS,
VCS, etc.).
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SeeVogh is another product that is generating
significant interest. The new user interface
currently in beta is particularly noteworthy.
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Web Conferencing, etc.

• Lync
• WebEx
• Adobe Connect
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Big Blue Button

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These solutions provide low cost multipoint
functionality, but lack standards integration.
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Lync
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WebEx
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Other Web Conferencing Solutions including Adobe
Connect, Big Blue Button, etc.
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Third Party MCU and Bridging Services
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Blue Jeans Network has recently emerged as a
service provider, offering minute-based plans for
MCU and protocol bridging services. BJN currently
bridges calls between H.323 codecs and the
following proprietary video and voice solutions

• Skype (with the purchase of at least one Skype
  multipoint agreement per session).
• Google Talk
• PSTN (direct telephony dialing)
• Additionally, BJN is working on bridging other
  solutions, including Microsoft Lync.

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Blue Jeans Network pricing structure is in many
ways similar to that of audio teleconferencing
services, which have per-minute charges.
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Using Blue Jeans Network

• Procure a room.
• Create an invitation.
• Distribute the invitation.
• Join the conference.
• Manage the conference.

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A Sample Invitation
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Managing Your Room

• This is, in many ways, similar to managing a
  session on one of our MCUs.

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While the pricing and versatility of BJN is a at
first glance, very attractive, there are several
concerns that should be noted

• Performance on BJN is sometimes less than
  optimal, due to lack of I2 peering.
• While BJN does allow Skype participation, at
  least one participant in each BJN call must be a
  Skype Premium customer (currently discounted at a
  rate of 4.49 per month).
• BJN does not have a cloud located on the East
  Coast.

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The Blue Jeans Network service marks a new and
innovative departure from current models of
operating video conferencing infrastructure. It
is noteworthy to recognize that the support of
Skype and Google Talk eliminates the need for
MCNC to license soft endpoints. This is important
as it reduces costs and removes our role in
handling the authentication and authorization
issues associated with our deployments of
software based endpoints. While the relatively
low quality of the BJN user experience likely
reduces the appeal of the product as a solution
for our needs today, the trajectory of the
service should be watched closely.
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Outsource
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There may be situations where MCU capacity can
not be expanded quickly enough to meet short term
demand, or where one-time/short-term events
require port expansion for a limited amount of
time. Examples include Internet2 Commons,
Glowpoint, AGT Perfect Meetings, etc.
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Conclusion
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We will continue to use our existing
infrastructure, and determine how we can use new
innovations, such at Telepresence Conductor to
get the best value and functionality possible.
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We will carefully evaluate products such as Vidyo
and SeeVogh to determine how they may integrate
to meet customer needs and reduce the cost of
multipoint infrastructure.
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We will continue to carefully evaluate the
potential integration of Web conferencing
solutions.
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Conduct additional testing with Blue Jeans
Network (and any similar services that emerge).
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Continue to look at a variety of issues related
to gatewaying, streaming, archiving, etc.
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Evaluate emerging products, such as Google
Hangouts, which may eventually prove to be viable
solutions to integrate with our standards-based
infrastructure.