Why do I need F5 for my Microsoft Lync Server deployment?

Microsoft Lync Server (formerly Office Communications Server) manages all real-time communications, including instant messaging, VoIP, and audio and video conferencing.

Microsoft and F5 have collaborated on a highly effective way to intelligently direct traffic for Lync Server using BIG-IP Application Delivery Controllers. Microsoft and F5 have conducted interoperability testing between F5 devices and Lync Server, ensuring the best possible user experience.

For enterprise deployments of Microsoft Lync Server, Microsoft requires the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Tight collaboration between F5 and Microsoft includes successful interoperability, scalability, reliability, and performance testing as well as joint documentation of the BIG-IP system and Lync Server product deployments, which gives customers a prescriptive solution with the assurance of lower cost and risk.

Benefits of F5’s Application Ready Solution for Microsoft Lync Server:

• F5 provides mission-critical availability and secure application health monitoring for Lync Server implementations
• Failure of one or more servers has a minimal effect on service availability because the load is distributed between the remaining Lync Servers
• F5 enhances the Microsoft solution by providing a cost-effective site resilience capability for client to server connections.

http://www.f5.com/solutions/applications/microsoft/lync-server/