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Muhammad_Omair_'s avatar
Muhammad_Omair_
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Oct 05, 2011

Does GTM is Mandatory for Lync? How many LTM?

Dears;

 

 

I am working on a scenario where customer need Lync solution. I understand that in normal circumstances i need one pair of LTM for lync servers and one pair for Edge Servers. The customer however cannot go for such investement. I believe we can achieve the same with one pair of LTM, Can you guys confirm.

 

 

Secondly if few of my servers in DC1 and few DR site. Can i achieve the loadbalancing without using GTM. If yes, what i functionality i will miss.

 

 

Regards:

 

Omair

 

microsoft
partner
  • Ryan_Korock_46's avatar
    Ryan_Korock_46
    Historic F5 Account
    Oct 10, 2011
    Omair,

     

     

    Normally I recommend a pair of BIG-IP LTMs for the Edge Servers, and a pair for the Front Ends (just as you described), however as this is not an option, we have to look at alternatives.....

     

     

    There is nothing technically stopping you from using the same pair of BIG-IPs for the Edge Servers and the Front Ends. Most customers do not do this because of network architecture and the security concerns around a single network device spanning multiple legs of a network. But it does work to reuse the same BIG-IPs, and it is up to you and your customer if this is a solution you can support.

     

     

    GTM provides health monitoring and more precision in load distribution; things you will not have when not using GTM for the wide area. Without GTM, there isn't awareness of the health and availability of the servers, and there is little control over where users are sent to.

     

     

    Ryan

     

    f5
  • RoK_105640's avatar
    RoK_105640
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Oct 20, 2011
    Hi Ryan,

     

     

    but in general GTM is not mandatory if the Lync environment is spread over two regional datacecenter?

     

     

    RoK
  • Ryan_Korock_46's avatar
    Ryan_Korock_46
    Historic F5 Account
    Oct 21, 2011
    Hey RoK,

     

     

    I wouldn't go as far as saying they are 'mandatory', but would highly recommend it. GTM provides dynamic load balancing and health monitoring that other static DNS & global methods can't provide.

     

     

    If it helps at all, Microsoft chose to use GTM for their Site Resiliency solution -> Planning for Metropolitan Site Resiliency