Database Software and Clustering Support

Topic Last Modified: 2011-05-12

The following list contains the database management systems for the back-end database, the Archiving database, and the Monitoring database that are supported by Microsoft Lync Server 2010:

Back-end database of a Front End pool, Archiving database, and Monitoring database
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise database software (64-bit edition)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard (64-bit edition)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (64-bit edition) with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard (64-bit edition) with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise (64-bit edition) with Service Pack 3 (SP3) (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard (64-bit edition) with SP3 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)

Standard Edition server database and local configuration store databases

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express (64-bit edition)

Note:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express (64-bit edition) is automatically installed by Lync Server 2010 on each Standard Edition server and each Lync Server 2010 server on which the local configuration store is deployed. Lync Server 2010 supports manually upgrading each SQL Server 2008 Express database to SQL Server 2008 R2 Express (64-bit edition), after the initial deployment of each Standard Edition server and other Lync Server 2010 server on which the local configuration store is located.

Note:

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express (64-bit edition) is automatically installed by Lync Server 2010 on each Standard Edition server and each Lync Server 2010 server on which the local configuration store is deployed.

Lync Server 2010 supports manually upgrading each SQL Server 2008 Express database to SQL Server 2008 R2 Express (64-bit edition), after the initial deployment of each Standard Edition server and other Lync Server 2010 server on which the local configuration store is located.

Important:
Lync Server 2010 does not support SQL Server 2008 32-bit edition, SQL Server 2008 R2 32-bit edition, or SQL Server 2005 32-bit edition. You must use the 64-bit edition. SQL Server Web edition and SQL Server Workgroup edition are not supported. You cannot use them with Lync Server 2010. Lync Server 2010 does not support native database mirroring. To use the Monitoring Server role, you should install SQL Server Reporting Services.

Important:

Lync Server 2010 does not support SQL Server 2008 32-bit edition, SQL Server 2008 R2 32-bit edition, or SQL Server 2005 32-bit edition. You must use the 64-bit edition.
SQL Server Web edition and SQL Server Workgroup edition are not supported. You cannot use them with Lync Server 2010.
Lync Server 2010 does not support native database mirroring.
To use the Monitoring Server role, you should install SQL Server Reporting Services.

In a Front End pool, the back-end database can be a single SQL Server computer. Alternatively, two or more dedicated SQL Server computers can optionally be clustered in a multiple-node active/passive configuration. A SQL Server cluster for the back-end database improves availability by providing failover capabilities. In a multiple-node cluster, the Lync Server 2010 SQL instance must be able to failover to a passive node that, for performance reasons, should not be shared by any other SQL instance.

SQL Server database clustering using Windows clustering is the only SQL Server high availability mechanism supported by Lync Server 2010. SQL Server clustering support includes the following:

Two-node failover clustering for the following:
- SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard
- SQL Server 2008 Standard with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
- or SQL Server 2005 Standard with SP3 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
Up to sixteen-node failover clustering for the following:
- SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
- SQL Server 2008 Enterprise with SP1 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)
- or SQL Server 2005 Enterprise with SP3 (required) or latest service pack (recommended)