BES, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, is the backend software that runs multiple BlackBerry devices in your organization, linking each one to your corporate e-mail server. The BES manages the flow of e-mail data ensuring that it is directed to its ultimate destination — the BlackBerry Smartphone. The BES also provides its own set of features and capabilities. The device management capabilities stand out the most in a BES. These allow us to have full control over BlackBerry Smartphones that are deployed within our organizations.
The core functionality of the BES has not changed; it still acts as a conduit between the messaging server and the Smartphone devices. Its ultimate goal still remains the same; it controls the data flow (be it e-mail, calendar, tasks, or third-party application data) between the servers on the corporate LAN and the wireless networks that the handhelds are joined to.
What has improved vastly in BES version 5.0 is the rich capabilities it now offers to administrators to manage the Smartphone devices. Those of you who are used to the previous version (version 4.x.x or earlier) of the BES, the first thing you will notice as an administrator is the new dashboard style administrator tool, which allows us to administer users more efficiently, offers hyperlinks and right-click functionality, so tasks can be achieved quickly and in a proper manner.
It is not just monitoring of the devices that has improved in BES version 5.0, but also the ability to set health scores on the BES and its components to ensure the system is running to its optimum. If it detects any change in the health of the system, alarm messages can be raised and disaster recovery plans can be brought into action automatically. Health scores are discussed in Chapter 8, Upgrades, in more detail.
From a backend perspective, the database has changed from the previous versions. The new database is more in-depth, schema tables are better written, and indexing has improved vastly. Previously, the database for the BES was just a hidden attribute, an important attribute but one that was never really managed by BES functions. In BES 5.0, we can now — without the need of third party applications — take control of the database, by running defragmentation, indexing, and checking database sizes, all from the BES 5.0 monitoring service.
Everyday management tasks such as the capability to provision devices, deactivate and wipe data from lost or stolen devices, and to enforce security policies have also improved with added functionality in the new BES management system, BAS.
Note
It is important to note that the BES still remains a distributed service. The BES is not a single service and it is made up of a dozen or so component services that combine to provide the functionality of the BES.
These components can be installed on a single server or they can be spread out on multiple servers to offer greater scalability.
The components that make up the BES service are vastly similar to the previous versions of the BES. The following is an overview of these components:
|
Component Name |
Component Function |
New To BES 5.0 |
|---|---|---|
|
BlackBerry Administration Service |
New feature that lets you manage the BlackBerry domain via a web interface — the new dashboard style management of the BlackBerry configuration database, which allows you to perform the core functions related to administering the BES. |
YES |
|
BlackBerry Monitoring Service |
Used to troubleshoot and monitor the BES in your organization, it polls and collects SNMP data and then applies it to threshold values configured and alerts network admins when unhealthy scores are produced. |
YES |
|
BlackBerry Web Desktop Manager |
A web-based application that provides similar features to Desktop Manager, so users can manage devices, backup, restore data, and update device software. |
YES |
|
BlackBerry Attachment Service |
Converts e-mail attachments into a format that can be viewed on BlackBerry devices. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Collaboration Service |
Encrypts the communications between instant messaging servers and the instant messenger client on BlackBerry devices. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Configuration Database |
A relational database that stores the configuration information for the BES components, using MS SQL. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Controller |
Monitors BES components and restarts any stopped services. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Dispatcher |
Handles compression and encryption for the BlackBerry data. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Alerts |
Used to send out any alert information from the monitoring component. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Configuration Panel |
A GUI view of the BlackBerry Configuration database, this utility allows us to make changes to the configuration database after the installation process. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Mail Store Service |
Connects to the messaging server to retrieve user contact data that the BlackBerry Administration Service requires. It synchs and updates the contact list to the BlackBerry Configuration database ensuring that the messaging server's contact lists and the contact lists on the BlackBerry configuration database are the same. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Messaging Agent |
Makes sure that the data between the BlackBerry configuration database and the user's mailbox is the same. It serves as the connection between the messaging server and other BES components. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Synchronization Service |
Synchs organization data, such as calendars, tasks, and so on, between the e-mail server and the BlackBerry devices. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry MDS Connection Services |
Controls the access of online content and applications from the organization's intranet, or information published on the internet. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry MDS Integration Service |
Enables BlackBerry MDS Runtime applications to interact with Enterprise backend systems via web services or using a direct database connection. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Policy Service |
Manages the IT policies, and IT administrative commands such as resending or provisioning service books for the BlackBerry devices. |
NO |
|
BlackBerry Router |
Connects to the wireless network and routes data to and from BlackBerry devices. |
NO |
There are three main databases within BES:
These databases can be held on a Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine or a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 standard, express, or enterprise edition. Selection of which database system to use will have an impact on future growth and scalability of your BES environment. MSDE is a lightweight version of Microsoft SQL server that can be installed during the BES installation process. The ease of implementation of the MSDE makes it a popular choice especially with smaller BES environments. The database size for MSDE is limited to 2 GB, which will limit the number of users you can have in your BES environment. The base configuration database is approximately 100 MB and each additional user requires 20 MB restricting BES implementations with MSDE to less than 100 users. You are not locked in if you opt to use MSDE as your initial BlackBerry configuration database, as you can upgrade the database to Microsoft SQL Server.
These databases can be created during the BES installation process as long as the correct permissions are assigned to the Microsoft SQL Server, prior to running the installation (see the Lab 1 — installing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 section.)
The configuration database can be installed outside of the main BES installation by running the CreateDB executable on the Besmgmt.cfg file, ideal when running upgrades or when you don't have access rights to the SQL server due to network policies.
Using Microsoft SQL Server to house the BlackBerry configuration database provides greater flexibility and scalability, especially in the area of disaster recovery. There is no support for database mirroring when using MSDE.
For the monitoring service, we need to ensure that the SNMP service is running on all the servers that will be housing BES components. We need to configure SNMP service and the monitoring service itself. Once it has been installed, it will be shown in Chapter 7, High Availability and Monitoring the BES.
These files are required for the BES to be able to initiate a Remote Procedure Call to the Microsoft Exchange Server to read and locate the GAL (Global Address List, this is populated in Microsoft Exchange Server and is used to search for e-mail recipients in the organization) and other Exchange Server information, especially the device user's mailboxes, calendars, and so on.
These files need to be of a particular version (6.5.8022) and also they are no longer installed during the original installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 does not use Exchange System Management (ESM)tools.
We need to make sure they are downloaded and installed from the Microsoft website prior to Lab 1. By running the executable in the download on the BES (the chosen server that will house the BES software) the MAPI and CDO files will be installed in the correct locations.
The BES uses the subarchitect of the MAPI to provide more stable communication software.