Configuring High Availability and Disaster
Recovery in Microsoft® Lync® Server 2013
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Table of Contents Lab: Configuring High Availability and Disaster Recovery in Microsoft Lync Server 2013 ...................... 1
Exercise 1: Configuring Database Mirroring and Backup Pool Registrars .................................................... 2
Exercise 2: Experiencing SQL Server Failure or Outage .......................................................................................... 7
Exercise 3: Experiencing a Pool Failure or Outage .................................................................................................. 11
Exercise 4: Experiencing a Front End Server Failure ............................................................................................. 13
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Lab: Configuring High Availability and Disaster
Recovery in Microsoft Lync Server 2013
During this lab, you will configure database mirroring for the Redmond pool using the SQL02
virtual machine as the mirroring database server. This is a newly supported configuration of
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 that will provide database high availability without requiring SQL
clustering. You will also configure backup registrars for both sites.
You will then experience the various ways in which Lync Server 2013 provides high availability,
such as when a Microsoft SQL Server® goes down or becomes unavailable, when one Front End
Server of a multiple Front End Server pool goes down, or when an entire pool goes down.
Estimated time to complete: 90 minutes
What You Will Learn
After completing the exercises, you will be able to:
Configure database mirroring.
Configure pool pairing.
Experience Lync Server 2013 high availability when a pool goes down.
Experience Lync Server 2013 high availability when a SQL Server goes down.
Experience Lync Server 2013 high availability when a Front End Server goes down.
Scenario
Lync Server 2013 has become so vital to OnPrem’s everyday business that the company wants to
take advantage of a new supported configuration of Lync Server 2013 that uses database mirroring.
This will provide further high availability and resiliency in case of a SQL Server failure, without
requiring SQL clustering. You will also configure backup registrars for each pool, and then
experience the different resiliency features of Lync Server 2013.
Important Note:
This lab requires the use of a headset with a microphone. Please contact a Technical Learning Guide
to get one. You will need to plug it into the headphone and mic jacks on the front of the computer
you are using. Once that has been done you will need to click on the “Reconnect” link in Launchpad
for CLIENT01, CLIENT02 and CLIENT03.
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Exercise 1: Configuring Database Mirroring and Backup Pool
Registrars
During this exercise, you will configure database mirroring for the redpool databases. This is done
using the Topology Builder and will require a republishing of the Topology. You will also configure
redpool and romepool to be backup registrars for each other.
In order to run the commands in this lab, the user must be a member of the
RTCUniversalServerAdmins group. Onprem\Administrator and Administrator2 have already been
added to this group.
Tasks
1. Start the Topology Builder and configure database mirroring.
a. On LSFE01, pause the mouse on the bottom-left corner to bring up the Start
button.
b. Click Start, and then on the Start screen, click Lync Server Topology
Builder.
c. At the Topology Builder prompt, verify that Download Topology from
existing deployment is selected, and then click OK.
d. On the Save Topology as page, browse to C:\LabFiles and save the topology as
OnpremTopologyWithHA.tbxml
e. In the Topology Builder, expand Lync Server, expand Onprem, expand Lync
Server 2013, and then expand Enterprise Edition Front End pools.
f. Right-click redpool.onprem.local, and then click Edit Properties.
g. On the Edit Properties page, under Associations, select the Enable SQL
Server store mirroring check box, and then click New.
h. In the Define New SQL Server Store window, in the SQL Server FQDN box,
type sql02.onprem.local
i. Select Named instance, and then in the box, type RTC
Note:
The Instance name must be capitalized. Leave the Edit Properties page
open.
j. Take note of the default mirror port number given and then click OK.
k. Back on the Edit Properties page, click OK.
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2. Configure the Mirror Port Number for SQL01.
a. On LSFE01, in the Topology Builder, under Onprem, expand Shared
Components and then expand SQL Server stores.
Notice the red X on sql01.onprem.local\RTC, due to the mirroring port not
being set.
b. Right-click sql01.onprem.local\RTC and then click Edit Properties.
c. In the Edit Properties window, in the Mirror port number box, type 5022
and then click OK.
3. Configure a Backup Registrar for redpool.
a. On LSFE01, under Enterprise Edition Front End pools, right-click
redpool.onprem.local again, and then click Edit Properties.
b. On the Edit Properties page, scroll-down to Resiliency, and select the
Associated backup pool check box.
c. Click the Associated backup pool menu, and then click
romepool.onprem.local Rome.
d. Select the Automatic failover and failback for Voice check box.
e. In the Voice failure detection interval box, type 30
f. In the Voice failback interval box, type 30 and then click OK.
Note:
These failover and failback settings are for this lab environment only.
4. Verify that the Backup Registrar is configured for romepool.
a. On LSFE01, in the Topology Builder, expand Rome, expand Lync Server
2013, and then expand Enterprise Edition Front End pools.
b. Right-click romepool.onprem.local and then click Edit Properties.
c. On the Edit Properties page, scroll-down to Resiliency and verify that the
Associated backup pool check box is selected, and that
redpool.onprem.local Onprem is listed.
d. Verify that the voice failure detection and voice failback intervals are
configured the same as what you set for redpool.onprem.local, and then
click OK.
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5. Publish the topology.
a. On LSFE01, in the Topology Builder, at the top of the navigation pane, right-
click Lync Server, and then click Publish Topology.
b. On the Publish the topology page, review the actions that should be
completed, and then click Next.
c. On the Create mirror databases page, verify that the sql02.onprem.local
check box is selected.
d. Click sql02.onprem.local and then click Settings.
e. In the Mirror Database Settings window, in the Path to file share box, type
\\sql02.onprem.local\lyncshare and then click OK.
f. Back on the Create mirror databases page, click Next.
Wait as the topology is published. This will take about three to four minutes.
g. On the Publishing wizard complete page, verify that all steps show as Success.
h. Under Next steps, click the link to open the to-do list.
i. Review the NextSteps.txt file that opens and the instructions to run local
Setup on each server in the list, to restart Lync services, and run the Invoke-
CsBackupServiceSync commands.
j. Close Notepad when you are done.
k. Back on the Publishing wizard complete page, click Finish.
l. Close the Topology Builder.
6. Update Lync 2013 components.
These steps can be run at the same time on all three virtual machines.
a. On LSFE01, LSFE02, and LSFE03, pause the mouse on the bottom left corner
to bring up the Start button.
b. Click Start, and then on the Start screen, click Lync Server Deployment
Wizard.
c. On the Lync Server 2013 Deployment Wizard page, click Install or Update
Lync Server System.
d. On the Lync Server 2013 page, next to Step 2: Setup or Remove Lync Server
Components, click Run.
e. On the Set Up Lync Server components page, click Next.
This will take a couple of minutes.
f. On the Executing Commands page, when the Task Status shows as
Completed, click Finish.
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7. Start the services.
Now that installation is complete, you will start the new services on LSFE03.
a. On LSFE03, on the Lync Server 2013 page, next to Step 4: Start Services, click
Run.
b. On the Start Services page, click Next.
Wait a few minutes for the services to start.
c. On the Executing Commands page, when the Task Status shows as
Completed, click Finish.
d. Next to Service Status (Optional), click Run.
e. In the Services console that opens, verify that all of the Lync Server services
have started, and then close the Services console.
f. Close the Lync Server 2013 Deployment Wizard.
8. Restart LSFE01 and LSFE02.
a. On LSFE01, and LSFE02, and then close the Lync Server 2013 Deployment
Wizard.
b. Close any other open windows.
c. Restart both servers.
d. After a few minutes, you may need to click Reconnect in the Launchpad
console to connect to both LSFE01 and LSFE02.
Note:
It will take several minutes for these servers to restart. Use the Services
console to verify that all services have started when they come back up.
9. Run the Invoke command.
a. On LSFE01, if the Start screen is not displayed, pause the mouse on the
bottom-left corner to bring up the Start button.
b. Click Start, and then on the Start screen, click Lync Server Management
Shell.
c. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following command and then
press Enter:
Invoke-CsBackupServiceSync –PoolFqdn redpool.onprem.local
d. When prompted, press Enter to accept the default Yes option.
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Note: You will see a message that no Central Management
Services were found and thus were not backed up. The
CMS is on LS2010, so this message can be ignored.
e. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following command and then
press Enter.
Invoke-CsBackupServiceSync –PoolFqdn romepool.onprem.local
f. When prompted, press Enter to accept the default Yes option.
Note: You will see a message that no Central Management
Services were found and thus were not backed up. The
CMS is on LS2010, so this message can be ignored.
g. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following command and then
press Enter.
Get-CsDatabaseMirrorState –PoolFqdn redpool.onprem.local
–DatabaseType User
This command will show the current state of the Mirror, shown in the
following image.
Figure 1: Get-CsDatabaseMirrorState command results.
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Exercise 2: Experiencing SQL Server Failure or Outage
In this exercise, you will simulate a SQL Server failure by stopping the SQL Service on the
sql01.onprem.local SQL Server. You will then run the necessary commands in the Lync Server
Management Shell to allow failover to the mirrored databases. Without a witness server, the
failover process needs to be initiated by a Lync Administrator.
You will also start a conversation between Holly and Bob, and then monitor the status of the session
as each step is performed. This will let you observe the behavior that end-users will experience.
Tasks
1. Verify that Client02 has full functionality.
a. On Client02, on the taskbar, click Lync 2013.
b. Close the We are unable to connect right now window.
c. Cancel Sign-in or Sign Preeda out of Lync.
d. In the Sign-in address box, type [email protected], and then
click Sign In.
e. In the Password box, type Password1, select the Save my password check
box, and then click Sign In.
f. Click Yes to save the sign-in information.
g. Add Nuno as a contact.
If the address book is still synchronizing, in the Find someone or a room, or
dial a number field, type [email protected] to add Nuno as a
contact.
h. Verify the client has full functionality.
2. Verify that Client01 has full functionality.
a. On Client01, on the taskbar, click Lync 2013.
b. If prompted, close the Activate Office.
c. If needed, sign in as [email protected].
d. In the Password box, type Password1 and then click Sign In.
e. Click Yes to save the sign-in information.
f. If not already added, add Holly, John, and Preeda as contacts.
g. Add Nuno as a contact.
Verify that the client has full functionality.
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h. Initiate an IM conversation with Holly on CLIENT02, add voice, and share
some content, such as a whiteboard. Keep this session active during each of
the steps of this exercise. Monitor the status of this session as you perform
each step, and observe the behavior that will be experienced by end users.
3. Simulate a failure of SQL01.
a. On SQL01, on the taskbar, click Services.
b. In Services, right-click SQL Server (RTC), and then click Stop.
Leave Services running.
4. Configure failover to the mirrored database.
Failover is a manual process. Here you will invoke the failover to the mirrored
database.
a. On LSFE01, in the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following
command and then press Enter.
Get-CsService –CentralManagement
Note the value for PoolFqdn; it will show as ls2010.onprem.local. This shows
that the Central Management Store (CMS) is located on LS2010.onprem.local,
so you do not need to fail over the CMS database.
b. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following command and then
press Enter.
Invoke-CsDatabaseFailover -PoolFqdn redpool.onprem.local
–DatabaseType User –NewPrincipal mirror –Force -Verbose
c. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type A and then press Enter to confirm.
d. Results should be similar to the following image.
Figure 2: Invoke-CsDatabaseFailover command results
5. Verify that Client01 is able to retain full functionality.
a. On Client01, notice that Lync 2013 maintains full functionality and that the
conversation remains active and retains full features.
b. If the clients indicate a network or server issue, it should be temporary, and
might take up to 30 seconds to reconnect.
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6. Resume the SQL01 service.
a. On SQL01, in Services, right-click SQL Server (RTC), and then click Start.
b. Close Services.
7. Resume Database Mirroring in SQL Server Management Studio.
a. On SQL02, on the taskbar, click SQL Server Management Studio.
b. In the Connect to Server window, in the Server name box, verify that
SQL02\RTC shows, and then click Connect.
c. In the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, expand Databases, right-
click rtcab (Principal, Suspended), click Tasks, and then click Mirror.
d. On the Database Properties-rtcab page, under Server network addresses,
click Resume.
e. On the Database Properties prompt, click Yes.
f. On the Database Properties –rtcab page, click OK.
g. Repeat these steps for:
i. rtcshared (Principal, Suspended)
ii. rtcxds (Principal, Suspended)
h. In SQL Server Management Studio, click each database and then press F5 until
these three databases show as (Principal, Synchronized), and then close the
SQL Server Management Studio. It might take a few minutes to synchronize.
8. Configure failback to the principal database.
a. On LSFE01, in the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following
command and then press Enter.
Invoke-CsDatabaseFailover -PoolFqdn redpool.onprem.local
–DatabaseType User –NewPrincipal primary –Force -Verbose
b. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type A and then press Enter to confirm.
9. Verify the database state.
a. On LSFE01, in the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following
command and then press Enter.
Get-CsDatabaseMirrorState –PoolFqdn redpool.onprem.local
–DatabaseType User
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b. Verify that you have results similar to the following image, where the
StateOnPrimary is Principal, and the StateOnMirror is Mirror.
Figure 3: Get-CsDatabaseMirrorState command results
10. Verify that all clients have full functionality.
a. On Client01 and Client02, verify that Lync has retained full functionality and
the conversation is active.
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Exercise 3: Experiencing a Pool Failure or Outage
In this exercise, you will observe the behavior of Lync Server 2013 when a pool fails. To simulate
this, you will stop the Lync Server Front End service of RTC, the Rome site.
You will maintain the conversation between Holly and Bob, adding Nuno, and then monitor the
status of the session as each step is performed. This will let you observe the behavior that will be
experienced by end users.
Tasks
1. Verify that the current session is still active.
a. On Client01 and Client02, verify that the active session is active between Bob
and Holly.
2. Log on to Lync 2013 on CLIENT03 as a Romepool user.
a. On CLIENT03, on the Desktop, on the taskbar, click Lync 2013.
b. Close the Activate Office window.
c. If prompted, close the We are unable to connect right now prompt.
d. In Lync, click the Status menu, click Sign Out to sign Holly out of this client.
e. In the Sign-in address box, type [email protected] and then
click Sign In.
f. In the Password box, type Password1 and then click Sign In.
g. Click Yes to save the sign-in information.
h. Verify full functionality.
3. Add Nuno to the ongoing meeting.
a. On Client01, in Lync 2013, add Nuno to the active session. Keep this session
active during each of the steps of this exercise. Monitor the status of this
session as you perform each step and observe the behavior that will be
experienced by end-users. If possible, click Call to raise the meeting to a
Conference Call. You may need to mute each client to prevent feedback.
Note:
Due toDepending on the virtualized environment you are using, you might
not be able to make or receive any calls from the virtual machine clients.
4. Stop the Front-End service on LSFE03.
Simulate a pool failure in the Rome site.
a. On LSFE03, on the taskbar, click Services.
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b. In Services, right-click Lync Server Front-End, and then click Stop.
Leave the Services console running.
5. Verify that Nuno retains limited functionality.
a. On CLIENT03 signed in as Nuno, notice that the current session is still active.
b. Notice that Lync signs out and after a few minutes will log back in, and then
show the Limited functionality prompt.
c. Notice the behavior of the current active session.
6. Invoke the Pool Failover feature.
a. On LSFE01, in the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following
command and then press Enter:
Invoke-CsPoolFailover -PoolFqdn romepool.onprem.local
-DisasterMode -Verbose
b. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type A and then press Enter to confirm.
7. Verify that Nuno is able to regain full functionality.
a. On CLIENT03 logged on as Nuno, notice that Lync 2013 signs out, and after a
few minutes will log back on, and then have full functionality.
b. Verify full functionality.
Notice the behavior of the current active session.
8. Start the Front-End service.
a. On LSFE03, in Services, right-click Lync Server Front-End, and then click
Start.
b. When the service has started, close the Services console.
9. Fail the pool back.
a. On LSFE01, in the Lync Server Management Shell, type the following
command and then press Enter:
Invoke-CsPoolFailBack -PoolFqdn romepool.onprem.local
-Verbose
b. In the Lync Server Management Shell, type A and then press Enter to confirm.
10. Verify full functionality on CLIENT03.
a. On CLIENT03, wait as the client fails back to romepool.onprem.local.
b. Verify that full functionality is maintained.
c. Keep the active conversation open.
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Exercise 4: Experiencing a Front End Server Failure
In this exercise, you will observe the behavior of Lync Server 2013 when a Front End Server goes
down. In the Redmond site, you deployed two Front End Servers: LSFE01 and LSFE02. You will now
take one of these servers down and verify the behavior in this scenario.
You will maintain the conversation between Bob, Nuno, and Holly, and then monitor the status of
the session as each step is performed. This will let you observe the behavior that will be
experienced by end users.
Tasks
1. Verify which server Client01 is connected to.
a. On Client01, in Lync 2013 logged on as Bob, press and hold the Ctrl key, right-
click the Lync icon on the system tray, and then click Configuration
Information.
b. Scroll down, and note which server shows as the Connected Lync Server. It
should be either LSFE01.onprem.local or LSFE02.onprem.local. Click Close.
If it says redpool.onprem.local, try the following steps on LSFE01 first.
c. Monitor the status of the active session with Holly and Nuno as you perform
each step, and observe the behavior that will be experienced by end users.
2. Stop the Lync 2013 services on the connect Front End.
a. On either LSFE01 or LSFE02 that Bob is connected to, on the taskbar, click
Services.
b. In Services, right-click Lync Server Front-End and then click Stop.
Leave the Services console running.
3. Verify that Lync 2013 fails over to the other Front End.
a. On Client01, watch as Lync 2013 automatically logs off for a few seconds and
then logs back on with full functionality.
Notice that the session remains active during the signing out and back in.
Because of virtualization, it might take a few minutes for Lync 2013 to log on.
b. Press and hold the Ctrl key, right-click the Lync icon on the system tray, and
then click Configuration Information.
c. Scroll down and note which server shows as the Connected Lync Server. (It
should show the other Front End Server, or it might show
redpool.onprem.local.) Click Close.
d. Verify full client functionality.
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4. Start the Lync 2013 services.
a. On either LSFE01 or LSFE02, in Services, right-click Lync Server Front-End,
and then click Start.
b. Close the Services console.
c. Close all open Windows and Lync Meetings.