Lync Edge Server High-Availability

The Lync Edge Server provides remote access and federation functionality to users. The Edge Server allows for the same high-availability configurations as Front End Servers. Lync Edge Servers can be configured as a pool of servers in the topology, and be load balanced through DNS load balancing or a hardware load balancer.

Unlike Lync Front End Servers, Edge Servers do not have web services that must be load balanced. In many organizations, this allows for a simple DNS load-balancing configuration to provide redundancy to Edge Server pools. However, it is important to note that OCS 2007 R2 and earlier do not support connecting to servers using DNS load balancing. This becomes important when you are federating with partners running OCS 2007 R2 and earlier versions. If your organization will be federated with these earlier server versions, it is important to plan your redundancy approach appropriately.