Forum Discussion
Greg_130338
Nimbostratus
NimbostratusMicrosoft Lync 2010/2013
Hey all, I'm in the planning stages for a MS Lync deployment using LTM to load balance the different components. One of the initial questions from the server team, is will the F5 negate the need for the Edge servers? Or are the edge servers still required? Forgive my ignorance, this is my first exposure to MS Lync.
-GR
6 Replies
Rik_Koenig_7777Edge Servers are still required. The LTM would balance connections between the servers in the edge pool.
FWIW, I would recommend going 2013 if you're running edge services. The architecture of 2010 was messy.
Greg_130338Got it, will double check on 2013, thanks. So just to clarify, is there a specific reason that edge servers are still necessary, like a specific function they perform that the BigIP is incapable of doing? I've been going through documentation and it looks like even with the BigIP doing load balancing, for some functions the edge server is communicated with directly without going through the BigIP, is that one of the major reasons? -GR- Rik_Koenig_7777There are a few places on TechNet (eg: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh690037.aspx) where they underscore the need for edge servers if doing external connectivity. There are some functions that Edge does and FE doesn't (external XMPP federation), but depending on deployment, that may not mean anything to you. I personally also feel better if external connections are being filtered by a server in the DMZ not domain-connected before getting sent over to Director/FE server.
- Greg_130338Gotcha, I'm going through technet documentation now. Thanks for the info. I'm sure it will all come to light eventually.
kunjanDNS load balancing might send user to a unavailable edge server as DNS server doesn't have the information of the server/application availability.
