How to Deploy with Microsoft Office Communications Server

To deploy the Barracuda Load Balancer in an Office Communications Server environment, complete the following tasks:

Task 1. Modify the TCP and UDP Connections Settings

To modify the TCP and UDP Connections settings on the System Settings page:

1. Go to the ADVANCED > System Settings tab in the web interface.

2. In the TCP Connections Timeout box, enter 1800 (30 minutes).

3. In the UDP Connections Timeout box, enter 1800 (30 minutes).

Task 2. Configure Enterprise Pool Services

To configure all Services needed for an internal OCS deployment:

1. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web interface.

2. Add each Service listed in the table using the steps that follow; all of these Services are  required :

   For the DCOM WMI Front Service only, edit each Real Server associated with the Service by clicking the Edit icon next to each Real Server entry in the table. On the Real Server Detail page that appears:

   1. In the Server Monitor section, set the Testing Method to TCP Port Check.

   2. In the Port field, enter the value 5061. It is better to test port 5061 for this Service because port 135 always passes the TCP port check even if OCS Services are not responding.

To add a Service:

1. In the Service Name box, enter the name for the Service.

2. In the Virtual IP Address box, enter the IP address for the FQDN of your Internal OCS Pool.

3. Select the protocol and in the Port box, enter the port for the Service in the table.

4. In the Real Servers box, enter the IP address for every Front-End server in your OCS Pool.

The following Services are  optional ; add each Service only if you have deployed that feature.

For each Service created, edit the Service by clicking the Edit icon next to the Service entry in the table. On the Service Detail page that appears:

1. In the General section, set Service Type to TCP Proxy.

2. In the Advanced Options section, set Session Timeout to 0 (session never times out).

Task 3. Configure Internal Edge Services

To configure all the Services needed for a load balanced OCS Edge deployment, perform the following steps on the internal-facing Barracuda Load Balancer:

1. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web Interface.

2. Add each Service listed in the table using the steps that follow; all Services are  required :

To add a Service:

1. In the Service Name box, enter the name for the Service.

2. In the Virtual IP Address box, enter the IP address for the FQDN of your Internal Edge OCS Pool.

3. Select the protocol and in the Port box, enter the port for the Service in the table.

4. In the Real Servers box, enter the internal IP address for every Edge server.

For each TCP Service created, edit the Service by clicking the Edit icon next to the Service entry in the table.

1. In the General section, set the Service Type to TCP Proxy.

2. In the Advanced Options section set Session Timeout to 0 (session never times out).

No change is required for RDP Media Edge, which is a UDP Service.

Task 4. Configure External Edge Services

To configure all Services needed for a load balanced Edge Deployment of Office Communications Server, perform the following steps on the external-facing Barracuda Load Balancer:

1. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web Interface.

2. Add each Service listed in the following table:

To add a Service:

1. In the Service Name box, enter the name for the Service.

2. In the Virtual IP Address box, enter the IP address for the FQDN of your Internal Edge Lync Pool.

3. In the Port box, enter the port for that Service in the table.

4. In the Real Servers box, enter the internal IP address for every Edge Server.

No modifications need to be made to the default settings for these Services.

Task 5. Confirm the Configure Edge Server Wizard Setting

Verify the following on the Edge Servers:

When completing the Configure Edge Server Wizard, the Internal Interface dialog displays the following message:
“If you are using a load balancer, specify the IP address of the local server and the FQDN of the load balancer’s VIP." 

In the FQDN for the internal interface field, enter the FQDN for the Access Edge DNS entry that external users are to use.

When correctly set, when the Edge Servers are queried for their host name strings, they return the FQDN of the VIP address for the external Access Edge instead of the FQDN of the internal interface. This ensures that the Subject Alternative Name (SAN) on the certificate assigned to this internal interface for the Access Edge matches the host string of the Edge server.

Task 6. Configure Director Services

To configure all the Services needed for Director Services, perform the following steps on the Director Barracuda Load Balancer:

1. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web interface.

2. Add each Service listed in the following table:

To add a Service:             

1. In the Service Name box, enter the name for the Service.

2. In the Virtual IP Address box, enter the IP address for the FQDN of your Director Service.

3. In the Port box, enter the port for that Service in the table.

4. In the Real Servers box, enter the internal IP address for every Director Server.

For each Service created, edit the Service by clicking the Edit icon next to the Service entry in the table. On the Service Detail page that appears, complete the following:

1. In the General section, set Service Type to TCP Proxy.

2. In the Advanced Options section, set Session Timeout to 0 (session never times out).

Task 7. Configure Communicator Web Access Services

To configure the Services needed for a load balanced Communicator Web Access Server, perform the following steps on the Communicator Web Access Barracuda Load Balancer:

1. Go to the BASIC > Certificates page in the web interface, and upload the CWA certificate to the Barracuda Load Balancer.

2. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web interface.

3. Add the Service listed in the following table:

To add a Service:

1. In the Service Name box, enter the name for the Service.

2. In the Virtual IP Address box, enter the IP address for the FQDN of your CWA Service.

3. In the Port box, enter the port for that Service in the table.

4. In theReal Servers box, enter the internal IP address for every CWA Server.

Edit the Service by clicking the Edit icon next to the Service entry in the table. On the Service Detail page that appears, complete the following:

1. In the General section, set Service Type to Layer 7 - HTTP.

2. In the Service Monitor section, in the Testing Method list, click HTTP. In the Test Target box, enter http://<fqdn of your CWA website>/ 

3. For example,  http://cwa.domain.local/

4. In the Test Match box, enter Microsoft Corporation.

5. In the Persistence section, change the Persistence Type  to HTTP Cookie.

6. In the SSL Offloading section, set Enable HTTPS/SSL to Yes. In the SSL Certificate list, select the name of the certificate you uploaded for CWA.

7. In the Advanced Options section, set Session Timeout to 0 (session never times out).

For each Real Server added, edit the Real Server by clicking the Edit icon next to each Real Server entry in the table. In the Real Server Detail section, change the value for Port to 80.

To create a rewrite rule, go to the Advanced > URL Rewrites page in the web interface and create a rule to replace outgoing http://<fqdn of your CWA Web site> with https://<fqdn of your CWA Web site>. This rewrites absolute paths written by CWA so that they all appear as encrypted links; this rule prevents unsecure content errors in the browser:

1. In the Layer 7 - HTTP Services section, select the CWA Service from the list.

2. In the Response Body Rewrite section, create a new rule with the following options:

   • Rule Name: cwa

   • Rule Order: 1

   • Host Match: <fqdn of your CWA Web site>, e.g. cwa.domain.local

   • URL Match: /cwa/client/*

   • Search String: http://<fqdn of your CWA Web site>, e.g.  http://cwa.domain.local

   • Replace String: https://<fqdn of your CWA Web site>, e.g.  https://cwa.domain.local

Create the CWA Redirect Service; this Service ensures that end users are redirected from HTTP to the HTTPS Service:

1. Go to the BASIC > Services page in the web interface.

2. In the Service Name field, enter the CWA Redirect Service name.

3. In the Virtual IP Address field, enter the IP address for the FQDN for your CWA Service. 

4. Select the protocol TCP, and in the Port field enter 80.

Edit the CWA Redirect Service by clicking the Edit icon next to the Service entry in the table:

1. In the General section, set the Service Type to Layer 7 - HTTP.

2. Set Enable HTTP Redirect toYes.

Test the CWA installation:

1. Open a browser and enter: https://<fqdn of your CWA Web site>, e.g.  https://cwa.domain.local

2. Ensure that all images load and that you are able to log into the CWA application without errors.

Your installation is now complete.