Chapter 5. Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Front End Server

Lync Server 2013 has various server roles. These can be combined in a number of ways to produce a myriad of architecture options. Even the collocation of services for a given role can be split out for added flexibility.

The Front End role in Lync Server 2013 is significantly changed from previous versions. There are three significant architecture changes related to the Front End Server role. First of all, the AV Conferencing role can no longer be split out as a separate role. It always exists on the Front End Server. Next, on a Standard Edition Server the Persistent Chat role can be collocated with the Front End Server. Finally, the Monitoring and Archiving roles, if deployed, are also now always collocated on the Front End Servers. This is true for Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Edition Pools.

As in previous versions, a single Front End Server or multiple Front End Servers are organized into logical pools. A Standard Edition Server exists as the only server in a pool, whereas multiple Enterprise Edition Servers can exist in a pool to provide redundancy and scalability. HTTP traffic should still be load balanced by a hardware load balancer; however, other Lync services are often load balanced via DNS. This architecture moves complex traffic, SIP and media, off of hardware load balancers traditionally designed solely for HTTP traffic and simplifies the overall design.

This chapter highlights the full life cycle of the Front End Server role. Because the Front End Server is deployed first, this chapter also reviews the steps necessary to prepare Active Directory. Then it moves on to the installation of the Standard and Enterprise Editions of the Front End Server role, followed by configuration and administration. Finally, the chapter concludes with troubleshooting and best practices.