Topic Last Modified: 2011-05-11

Instant messaging (IM) and presence always run on Front End Servers. This section details the hardware and software requirements for Front End Servers and Back End Servers, and the supported collocation scenarios for Front End Servers.

Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers

The hardware requirements for Front End Server are the same as for many other server roles in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software. The following table outlines these requirements.

Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers

Hardware component Minimum requirement

CPU
  • Dual processor, quad-core 2.0 gigahertz (GHz)+

  • 4-way processor, dual-core 2.0 GHz+

Memory

16 gigabytes (GB)

Disk
  • 10K RPM hard disk drive (HDD) (multiple spindles recommended)

  • High-performance solid state drive (SSD) with performance equal to or better than 10K RPM HDD

Network
  • Dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters (recommended)

  • Single 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapter (supported)

Software Requirements for Front End Servers

The Front End Server role can be deployed only on servers running Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition.

You can use any of the following 64-bit operating systems for all roles of Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition, including Front End Server, A/V Conferencing Server, Director, Mediation Server, Edge Server, Archiving Server, and Monitoring Server:

  • The Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard operating system

  • The Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise operating system

  • The Windows Server 2008 Standard operating system with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

  • The Windows Server 2008 Enterprise operating system with SP2

Hardware Requirements for Back End Servers

The hardware requirements for Back End Server as follows:

Hardware Requirements for Back End Servers

Hardware component Minimum requirement

CPU
  • Dual processor, quad-core 2.33 gigahertz (GHz)+

  • 4-way processor, dual-core 2.33 GHz+

Memory

32 gigabytes (GB)

Disk

For a direct attached system drive:

  • 10K RPM hard disk drive (HDD) (multiple spindles recommended)

  • High-performance solid state drive (SSD) with performance equal to or better than 10K RPM HDD

For direct attached data storage:

  • 10K or 15K RPM HDD (multiple spindles recommended)

  • High-performance SSD with performance equal to or better than 10K RPM HDD

  • Multiple spindles required

  • RAID 0 or RAID 10

  • Recommended minimum size per HDD: 72 GB

Network
  • Dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapters (recommended)

  • Single 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network adapter (supported)

Software Requirements for Back End Servers

The Back End Servers must run one of the following 64-bit versions of Microsoft SQL Server:

  • SQL Server 2008 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2008 Standard with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2005 Enterprise with Service Pack 3 (SP3) (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2005 Standard with SP3 (required) or latest service pack (recommended) (64-bit)

Supported Collocation

The Front End Server role can be collocated with A/V Conferencing Server and Mediation Server. It cannot be collocated with Edge Server, Director, Monitoring Server, or Archiving Server.