Topic Last Modified: 2011-01-31

For Microsoft Lync Server 2010, instant messaging (IM) conferencing and web conferencing capabilities always run on Front End Servers. A/V conferencing runs either on Front End Servers or on separate A/V Conferencing Servers. The hardware and software requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers are identical.

This section details the hardware and software requirements for these servers, along with the supported collocation.

Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers

The hardware requirements for Front End Server are the same as for many other server roles in Lync Server 2010 are outlined in the following table.

Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing 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 Gbps network adapter (supported)

Software Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers

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

Any of the following 64-bit operating systems is required 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

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.

If A/V Conferencing Server is separated into its own server pool, no other server roles can be collocated in that pool.