Dedicated Role

Just as in Lync Server 2010, the Director role is a standalone role that is defined and installed like any other server within the topology. For historical reference, during the Office Communications Server timeframe, installing the Director role was performed the same way as installing a Front End server and then was followed by a series of manual steps to deactivate most of the Front End services. These steps were well documented, but it was completely up to the administrator to follow them correctly and completely. There was also no way to prevent administrators or help desk users from homing new user accounts on a Director pool because they appeared just like any other Front End pool choice when enabling user accounts.

In Lync Server 2013 the Director is still a completely dedicated and specific role separate from a Front End server. It can be installed like any other role and requires none of the manual deactivation steps previously required. This separation not only improves the ease of deploying a Director, but increases the security and stability of the role by not installing unnecessary components and leaving deactivation to the administrator.