Polycom RealPresence 1800 Administration Manual page 374

Appendix - Modular MCU
System Description
Beginning with version 8.6, and further on version 8.7.1, a new infrastructure for Polycom® RealPresence
Collaboration Server is introduced - the Modular MCU, or in short MMCU.
The new infrastructure's purpose is to separate the Collaboration Server functionalities, thus enable:
● Better utilizing of resources
● Easy expansion and deployment of new capabilities
● Easy support for previously unsupported media and endpoint types, such as RDP content (Remote
Desktop Protocol), a content sharing technology used by Microsoft Lync/Skype for Business,
especially in terms of customers' ability to easily adjust their systems to support them.
For this purpose, Polycom extended the Collaboration Server infrastructure to include:
● A Main MCU - May be either Collaboration Server Virtual Edition, or one of the Hardware MCUs, i.e.
Collaboration Servers 1800/2000/4000.
● Soft Blades - Polycom Soft Blade proprietary software installed on a virtual machine (currently only
VMWare machines). Each Soft Blade is assigned to a Main MCU.
The Soft Blade is aimed at providing new media types to endpoints (in 8.7.1, RDP content media to MS Lync
clients), via a Translator residing within it, for each media type connection. The purpose of the Translator is
translating the standard media sent by the Collaboration Server to endpoints, into the new media type, and
vice versa.
It is important to note however, that this change in the infrastructure is not imperative should there be no
need of media types other than those heretofore supplied by the Collaboration Server, and the former
infrastructure can be maintained, and is actually the default state of the MCU (see
The Modular MCU (MMCU) infrastructure is illustrated below.
Polycom, Inc.
MCU Operation Mode).
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