Technical data

DATA CENTER and CAMPUS NETWORKS DEPLOYMENT GUIDE
Deploying Brocade Networks with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 35 of 52
MICROSOFT LYNC SERVER 2010 QUALIFICATION
This section describes the test configuration and test cases used to test interoperability between Brocade
networking products and Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Microsoft Unified Communications solutions use the power of
software to streamline communication. Microsoft Lync Server 2010, one of the cornerstones of the Microsoft UC
solution, is the platform for presence, instant messaging, conferencing, and enterprise voice for businesses around
the world.
Brocade offers a complete line of enterprise and service provider Ethernet switches, Ethernet routers, application
management, and network-wide security products. With industry-leading features, performance, reliability, and
scalability capabilities, Brocade products enable network convergence and secure network infrastructures to support
advanced data, voice, and video applications. The complete Brocade product portfolio enables end-to-end
networking from the edge to the core of today's networking infrastructures.
Test Goals
The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 network certification tested both voice and video over distances using Brocade
Ethernet switches and load balancers. The objectives were as follows:
• Availability. One of the primary responsibilities of the Brocade hardware load balancer is to ensure
application availability through application health checks, resilient Layer 2/3 mechanisms, and internal
High Availability (HA).
• Performance. Given the different latencies and packet loss between remote offices, users in remote
offices should still be able to perform voice and video calls without call drops, echoes, or talkovers.
• Optimization. To optimize traffic, QoS ACLs were applied to both voice and video traffic, giving it higher
priority over other traffic. In addition, traffic rate limiting was applied to video.
Network Design
Figure 10 shows the network topology used for testing. An expanded deployment model was used to separate the
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 roles.
Figure 10. Microsoft Lync Server 2010 testing with Brocade Ethernet switches.