Topology Builder for Enterprise Edition Deployments

Lync Server 2013 uses the published topology to process traffic and maintain overall topology information. It is especially important to ensure that all information included in the Topology Builder is correct because it sets all the initial configuration information for deployed server roles. To ensure that the topology is valid, it is recommended that you run the Topology Builder before your initial deployment and publish an updated topology after each topological change. This example shows a Standard Edition topology. Remember, if you change the topology later, it should be republished to ensure consistency.

When you first launch Lync Server 2013 Topology Builder, you’ll see a fairly blank MMC screen, as shown in Figure 5.24. Compare that to the detailed result at the end of this example.

Figure 5.24. Topology Builder with no topology defined.

To begin using Topology Builder, perform the following steps:

1. In the right-hand Action pane, click New.

2. Define the default SIP domain. In many deployments this is simply your domain name, as shown in Figure 5.25. In more complex deployments you can add SIP domains by clicking the Add button. When you are done defining SIP domains, click OK.

Figure 5.25. Define the default SIP domain.

3. In the right-hand Action pane, click Define Site. Enter the appropriate information, as shown in Figure 5.26, and click OK. Note that Lync Server sites have no relation to Active Directory sites. They are completely separate and unique to Lync Server.

Figure 5.26. Define the site.

4. In the right-hand Action pane, click Define Front End Pool and click the radio button for Enterprise Edition; then click Next.

5. Define the pool FQDN as shown in Figure 5.27. When you are done, click Next.

Figure 5.27. Define the front-end pool.

6. Define the servers that will make up the front-end pool by adding their FQDNs and click Next.

7. Choose the appropriate workloads for your deployment and click Next. Then choose whether you’d like to collocate the Mediation Server role on your Front End Servers and click Next.

8. Define the database and file share to be used by the pool, as shown in Figure 5.28. For an Enterprise deployment SQL cannot be collocated on one of the Front End Servers. Also, you’ll need to manually create the share on a server other than the front end before progressing past this step. After the share is created, Lync Server assigns the appropriate permissions. When you are ready, click Next.

Figure 5.28. Define the SQL instance and file share for the front-end pool.

9. Specify the Lync Web Services URLs. Choose whether you want to override the default settings for the internal URL. This is useful when choosing DNS load balancing for the pool, as shown in Figure 5.29. Then click Next.

Figure 5.29. Web services URLs.

10. Decide whether this front-end pool will be associated with an Office Web Apps server/pool. You can choose an existing server or define a new one. When complete, click Finish.

This completes the initial topology definition. However, there are additional steps to complete a fully functional topology. The next step is to define easy-to-remember URLs for common Lync Server 2013 functions:

1. From the main Topology Builder page, where your site name is highlighted, expand Simple URLs in the main pane, as shown in Figure 5.30, and click Edit.

Figure 5.30. Expand the Simple URLs item.

2. Enter easy-to-remember URLs for Phone Access, Administrative Access, and Meeting services, as shown in Figure 5.31. Note that the following three examples are all valid for Lync Server Simple URLs:

• https://<function>.<domain_fqdn> - https://dialin.companyabc.com

• https://<sip_domain>/<function> - https://companyabc.com/dialin

• https://<External_WebPool_FQDN>/<function> - https://cs2010.companyabc.com/dialin

Figure 5.31. Configured Simple URLs.

Note that these are the only allowed syntaxes. Port information, such as https://dialin.companyabc.com:443, is invalid. If you choose the first option, all the FQDNs will need to be included as SANs on your certificates. If you choose the second or third option, note that the following virtual directory names are reserved and cannot be used as part of a Simple URL:

• ABS

• Conf

• LocationInformation

• RequestHandler

• AutoUpdate

• cscp

• OCSPowerShell

• RGSClients

• CertProv

• GetHealth

• ReachWeb

• RGSConfig

• CollabContent

• GroupExpansion

• RequestHandlerExt

• WebTicket

The final step is to publish the topology to the Central Management Store. In a Standard Edition deployment this is the first front end you define. Perform the following steps to publish your topology:

1. From the Topology Builder Tool, right-click the top-level menu item in the left-hand pane, Lync Server 2013, as shown in Figure 5.32.

Figure 5.32. Top level of Topology Builder.

2. Click Publish Topology.

3. In the opening screen, click Next.

4. Select the front-end pool that will host the Central Management store and click Next.

5. Ensure that the database selections are correct and click Next. This begins the topology publishing process.

6. The Publish Topology window displays the actions being performed. Ensure that it completes successfully, as shown in Figure 5.33, and then click Finish.

Figure 5.33. Successfully published topology.