Lync 2010 Front End server installation guide

Front End server role in Lync 2010 is one of the most important role and core of Lync infrastructure. Also this is a first server you install in a new Lync 2010 deployment. There are a lot of changes made to the Front end server role compare to previous version of OCS 2007 R2. Mediation Server role in Lync is now can be collocated with the fronend server role. If you are deploying the Enterprise Voice features, you must have a dedicated mediation server for direct SIP connection to a SIP trunk/VOIP provider or PBX. AV Conferencing role in Lync now be its own dedicated pool which is high recommended in large deployments. Back in OCS 2007 days, director role was a Front End server with no users on it. In Lync 2010, there is a dedicated director role that can be installed on a separate server.
In Lync 2010, you may deploy a single Front End pool or multiple Front End pool to provide service to different sites around the world. If you are using the standard version of Lync, note that only a single server can be part of the Front End pool. Redudentcy is provided in the Enterprise version by allowing multiple Front End servers in the Front End pool. Most Front End services in Lync(SIP and Media traffic) will be load balanced via DNS but WebServices must be load balanced using hardware LBs such as F5.

Lync 2010 AD requirements and schema upgrade

Baisc AD requriements:
- All DCs in the forest must be Server 2003 SP2 or newer.
- Forest functional level must be Windows 2003 native or higher.
- Domain functional level must be Windows 2003 native or higher.
As you may already guessed, Schema update must be done against active directory before installing Lync 2010. This Schema update can be done directly from deployment wizard as shown below. Also there are powershell cmdlets that’s equivalent to this. Note that you must verify AD replication by following step 2 in the screenshot. Another way to confirm if AD preparation was a success is by looking for Lync AD groups.

Following groups get created during the domain prep process.
RTCUniversalServerAdmins
RTCUniversialUserAdmin
RTCUniversalReadOnlyAdmins

Lync 2010 FrontEnd Server Deployment

Lync 2010 FrontEnd Server Prepare AD

Install Lync 2010 Topology Builder

Once done with AD prep, next step is to install Topology builder, which will allow you configure how your Lync infrastructure will look like. This tool allows Lync admins to design how Lync topology should looks like and push the configuration to AD and CMS. This simplified approaches allows admins to easily deploy Lync and prevent misconfigurations. Install Topolgy builder from deployment wizard as shown below and it should install smoothly. Once installed, this tool can be accessed from START > Programs > Microsoft Lync Server 2010 > Lync Server topology builder.

Lync 2010 FrontEnd ServerIt is very important that all configuration provided to topology builder is accurate since it sets the initial config for the environment. To configure a new topology using the topology builder, launch topology builder and follow below instructions:

  1. Launch Topology builder > Select “New Topology”
  2. Choose default SIP domain, simple your AD domain name or external domain name.
  3. Define a site (This is not an AD site!). This is completely unique to Lync infrastructure.
  4. Once this is completed, “Define new Front End pool” will appear.
  5. Define the Front End server pool FQDN.
  6. Specify the pool members. This is the list of Lync 2010 Front End servers that will be load balanced for redundancy.
  7. Select the feature you wish to install. Note that IM Messaging / Presence is installed by default.
  8. Define a SQL store, this is where your CMS data will be stored.
  9. Define a file share. This must be created on non-Front End server, in my case, I created the share on DB server.
  10. When the wizard finishes, click close.

Configuring Simple URLs from Topology Builder

Lync 2010 FrontEnd Pool Installation

Publish Topology from Topology builder

Last step before installing the Front End server is to publish the topology. This is simply done by clicking “Publish Topology” on the right pane and following the wizard. This will create / update the topology information on in CMS store.

Lync 2010 FrontEnd server

Once Topology is published you will receive a similar message below instructing you to create DNS records for the simple URLS and update the certificate SAN names.
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In order for changes to the following simple URLs to take effect, you must update the corresponding DNS records. Depending on how the certificates on your Front End pools and Director pools are configured, you may also need to update the certificates. For details, see the product documentation.
https://dialin.tinydomain.net
https://meet.tinydomain.net
https://lyncadmin.tinydomain.net
Update Lync Server 2010 with the changes defined in the topology by running local Setup on each server in the following list.
Server FQDN: lync-fe01, Pool FQDN: Lyncpool.tinydomain.net
Server FQDN: lync-fe02, Pool FQDN: Lyncpool.tinydomain.net
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Installing the first Front End role

Please ensure that all previous steps above are done prior to installing the first Front End role. Run the installer on Front End pool members. In my case, lync-fe01 and lync-fe02.