Using Portal Server with Communications Suite

You can install Communications Suite products with Portal Server to provide access to messaging and calendar services (by creating portlets in a portal page). For example, you can create these portlets to provide a summary of messaging information, calendar schedules, and address book information. The integration of Portal Server includes single sign-on capabilities between Portal Server, Calendar Express, Messenger Express, and the Communications Express client.

You can run Communications Express in both Sun Java System Schema 1 and Schema 2 environments. If you are using Schema 2, then you can use Access Manager authentication and single sign-on for Communications Express.

Portal Server also supports message archiving for Instant Messaging. In addition, the Messenger Express, Calendar Express, and Instant Messenger clients are made available to users through the Portal Server Desktop.

The following two components of Portal Server provide additional functionality to a basic Communications Suite deployment:

• Portal Server Desktop. Enables users to access and launch Communications Suite applications from portlets that you create.

• Sun Java System Portal Server Secure Remote Access. Enables remote end users to securely connect to an organization’s network and its services over the Internet. End users access Secure Remote Access by logging in to the web-based Portal Server Desktop through the Secure Remote Access gateway. The authentication module configured for Portal Server authenticates the end user. The secure end-user session is established with Portal Server and the access is enabled to the end user’s Portal Server Desktop.

This guide does not discuss deploying Communications Suite in a portal environment. See the Portal Server documentation for more information.