Synopsis

This online guide explains briefly the concept of
Lync 2010/2013 and how
to use a Edgenexus Accelerating Load Balancer (ALB-X) to load balance
Lync 2010/2013
traffic.

Overview

Microsoft
Lync (previously known as Microsoft
Office Communications Server) is a real-time communications server for
the
enterprise. In response to today’s changing working patterns and the
need for
real-time collaboration, organisations are looking for integrated
productivity
tools that enable users to communicate from anywhere in a
cost-effective and
secure manner.

As with any service-oriented architecture, it is essential that
applications
run seamlessly with superb performance and robust security. The nature
of
Lync’s real-time communication and collaboration services, together
with its
business critical importance demands a high level of service delivery.

Enter
Edgenexus – Application Delivery Control
for Microsoft Lync

The
Edgenexus Accelerating Load Balancer is
specifically developed to improve the performance, scalability,
reliability and
manageability of Microsoft Lync. Easy to deploy, configure and
maintain, the Edgenexus ALB-X for Lync has the simplicity of a
plug-and-play solution, with the performance capabilities to meet even
the most demanding traffic profiles.

Pre-requisites

The following are general prerequisites and
configuration
notes for this guide:

• • It is assumed that the reader is a
    network administrator or person familiar with networking and general
    computer terminology

• • You have set-up your Microsoft Lync
    Enterprise Server 2010 environment and have installed your Edgenexus
    ALB-X application delivery controller

• • You have configured your internal and
    external DNS entries for the Front-End and Edge Pools, and services accessed by Reverse Proxy

• When Microsoft refer to a hardware
  load balancer (HLB) it is equivalent to the industry term “Application
  Delivery Controller”
• You are running Software Version 4.0.1 (Build 1576) or later on you Edgenexus ALB-X

Webscheduler

It is advised to create a simple url for webscheduler. This url should map to the same external internet facing IP as meet and dialin.
E.g. you can go to https://ReverseProxyWebfqdnOfPool/scheduler where ReverseProxyWebfqdnOfPool has a separate external internal facing IP or

you can create DNS SRV records and forwarding rules for your external interface for external user signin without autodiscover and federation traffic.
For further details refer to https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg412787.aspx

For user sign-in: _sip._tls.

-> your edge external interface FQDN.
For federation: _sipfederationtls._tcp.

-> your edge external interface FQDN.

Standard Lync Deployment

Diagram 1.1

Configuring the FrontEnd Pool

Required Services
for the Front End Pool: – Table 1.1

Service Name	Port	Service Type	Connectivity	Health Check	Persistence	Notes
FE DCOM	135	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	RPC/DCOM
FE SIP	5061	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	SIP/TLS
FE App Share	5065	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	Application Sharing
FE QoE	5069	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	QoE Agent
FE Conf	444	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	Conferencing
FE Web Int	443	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connect	IP Bound	HTTPS Internal Web Services
FE Web Ext	4443	HTTP	Reverse Proxy	Lync Layer7 Health Check	Cookie	HTTPS External Web Services

Optional
Services for Front End Pool: – Table 1.2

Service Name	Port	Service Type	Connectivity	Health Check	Persistence	Notes
FE Web Int	80	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	200OK	IP Bound	HTTP root Cert Retrieval for Lync Phones
FE Web Ext	8080	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	200OK	IP Bound	HTTP root cert retrieval for Lync Phones
FE CAC	448	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Call Admission Control
FE SIP-U	5060	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	SIP Unsecured
FE MED	5067	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Mediation Server SIP/TLS
FE MED	5068	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Mediation Server SIP/TCP
FE	5070	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Mediation Server
FE RSG	5071	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Response Groups
FE CAA	5072	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Conferencing Attendant
FE CA	5073	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Conferencing Announcement
FE OV	5074	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Outside Voice Control
FE CP	5075	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Call Park
FE CQ	5076	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Call quality test
FE CAC	5080	Layer4 TCP	Reverse Proxy	TCP Connection	IP Bound	Call Admission Control

Configuring a
Virtual Service for SIP services on the Lync-Front-End Pool

1.    Log on to your Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP-Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Click on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each
setting as below

4.    Click on the Actions – Advanced Tab and set each
setting as below

Configuring a Virtual Service for Additional SIP services on
the Front-End Servers

1.    Log on to your Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP-Services page
2.    Click Add Port  and complete the columns as
per Table 1.1 & 1.2 as required for your deployment
3.    The Actions-Basic settings should be configured
the same for all SIP based services

Configuring a Virtual Service for Internal HTTPS-based services for the Front-End servers

1.    Log on to your Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP-Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Click on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each
setting as below

4.    Click on the Actions – Advanced Tab and set each
setting as below

Configuring a Virtual Service for External HTTPS-based services for
the Front-End servers

1.    Log on to your Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP-Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Click on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each
setting as below

4.    The “Lync Layer 7 Health Check” is configured in
the Configure – Real Server Monitor section

5.    The Cookie name must be set to MS-WSMAN. Please
contact pre-sales@edgenexus.io for the Lync 2010 Cookie jetPACK which
will change this setting automatically
6.    The SSL Certificate must be the same certificate
on the Front End Servers and is typically your public certificate with subject alternative names

Export the certificate from your Front End Server (This will be a PKCS#12 and includes the private key and intermediates)
Import this certificate onto the Edgenexus ALB-X – for details on this please see https://appstore.edgenexus.io/user-guides/user-guide-4-1-4/software-version-4-1-4-user-guide/ssl-certificates/
The certificate will now be available to choose from the drop down list in the SSL section. Our example above shows “sipjetnexuscom” which is a friendly name for our external certificate

7.    Content SSL must be set to Any for SSL Bridging also known as SSL  Re-Encryption

Configuring the Edge Pool

External Interface

1.    Log on to your Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Click on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each
setting as below

4. In this instance we have one Public IP address 200.200.200.1 for
sip.domain.com which will be forwarded to Edgenexus ALB-X Channel IP of
10.1.2.1 and the three services SIP, AV and Conferencing are split by
port consistent with a Lync Consolidated Edge Topology

5.    Each Edge Server will need a Public IP address and
here we have given Edge Server2 the Public IP address 200.200.200.12.
Where Public IP is an internet routable IP address
6.    You will then need to create a one to one NAT for
this public IP address to the External IP address of each Edge Server.
Where External IP is the private IP address of the External interface
of the Edge server. In this instance the External Interface IP    address
of Edge Server 2 is 10.1.2.12

7.    The External Lync Client makes an initial
connection to sip.domain.com which is then forwarded to the Edgenexus
VIP and load balanced to the external interface of one of the Edge
Servers

8.    The Edge server responds to the client via the
load balancer with its  Public IP address 200.200.200.12

1. 9.
   The Lync Client then connects direct with the Edge Server’s public
   address

10.    Ensure you have the correct firewall rules for
the Edge Server ports. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg425882.aspx

Edge Internal Interface

1. 1. 1.   Log on to your
      Edgenexus ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and open up the IP Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Click on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each
setting as below

Configuring the ALB-X as a Reverse
Proxy

1. 1.   Log on to your Edgenexus
   ALB-X https://x.x.x.x and
   open up the IP Services page

2.    Click Add IP and complete each column with the
details below taking care to replace the IP addresses here with your
own.

3.    Notice on the 443 Channel we have port address
translated to 4443 to the Lync Front End Servers. Now Click for the 443
channel on the Actions – Basic Tab and set each setting as below

4.    The recommended policy is to run a flightPATH rule
on the HTTP port 80 channel to redirect all traffic to the secure HTTPS
443 channel.

5.    The flightPATH rule flightPATH 1 – Redirect to HTTPS is configured in
the Configure—flightPATH section as below. The Condition and Evaluation should be left blank and the Action is detailed below

jetPACK Quick Installation

	The Edgenexus ALB-X can be configured automatically with a Lync 2010/2013 “jetPACK”, template which is fully-tuned with all of the application-specific settings that you need in order to enjoy optimised service delivery from your ALB-X
	If you supply the virtual IP address and real server IP addresses to support@edgenexus.io we will send you a custom jetPACK that you simply upload to the Edgenexus ALB-X
	The upload can be done via the GUI and will be fully configured in less than 1 minute
	The relevant jetPACK can be applied to multiple Edgenexus ALB-X appliances saving valuable time and eliminating simple mistakes
	For more information and to download a jetPACK please go to our website https://appstore.edgenexus.io/jetpack-2/#Microsoft_Lync

Troubleshooting

Further help can be found on the main Edgenexus website

http://www.edgenexus.io/support/

User central

Contact Us

I hope you have found this Deployment Guide informative, but if you
need any clarification or further information, please do not hesitate
to get in contact with edgeNEXUS Support:

E-mail	support@jetNEXUS.com
Phone	+44 (0870) 382 5529
Blog	http://jetNEXUS.blogspot.com/

Back to Top