Microsoft Skype for Business StyleBook

The Skype for Business 2015 application relies on several external components to function. The Skype for Business network consists of various systems, such as servers and their operating systems, databases, authentication and authorizing systems, networking systems and infrastructure,and telephone PBX systems. Skype for Business Server 2015 is available in two versions, Standard Edition and Advanced Edition. The primary difference is in support for high-availability features that are only included in the Advanced Edition. To implement high availability, multiple Front-End servers must be deployed to a pool and SQL servers must be mirrored.

An Advanced Edition deployment enables the creation of multiple servers with different roles.

The primary components in Skype for Business 2015 application are:

• Front-End servers
• Edge Servers
• Director servers
• Database (SQL) servers

Front-end servers:

In the Skype for Business application, the Front-End server is the core server in your network. It provides the links and services for user authentication, registration, presence, address book, A/V conferencing, application sharing, instant messaging, and web conferencing. If you are deploying Skype for Business 2015 Enterprise edition, the topology typically consists of at least two Front-End servers load balanced in a Front-End pool with a database server that hosts the SQL Server instance holding the Skype for Business database.

Edge servers:

Deploying Edge Servers for Skype for Business is necessary if external users who are not logged into your

organization’s internal network need to be able to interact with internal users. These external users can be authenticated and anonymous remote users, federated partners, or other mobile clients.

There are four types of roles in Skype for Business Edge Server:

• Access Edge, which handles SIP Traffic and authenticates external connections, allows remote connection and allows federation Connection
• Web Conferencing, which handles Data Conferencing Packets, and allows external users to access Skype for Business
• A/V Conferencing, which handles A/V Conferencing Packets, and extends audio and video, app sharing and file transfer to external users
• XMPP Proxy, which handles XMPP packets, and allows XMPP based servers or clients to connect to Skype for Business.

Director servers:

The main function of the Director server in Skype for Business 2015 is to authenticate endpoints and “direct” the users to the pool that contains their account. In Skype for Business 2015, though the Director is a completely dedicated and specific role on a standalone server, it is an optional server. This facilitates security by making it easier to deploy or remove the configurations.

Directors are most useful where multiple pools exist because they provide a single point of contact for authenticating endpoints. Also, for remote users, a Director serves as an extra hop between the Edge pool and Front-End pool, adding an extra layer of protection against attacks.

The following figure diagrammatically represents the deployment of Skype servers in the network:

Configuring Citrix ADC instances in an enterprise

The following table lists the IP addresses used in the sample configuration included in the instructions below:

To configure front-end servers:

1. In Citrix ADM, navigate to Applications > Configuration, and click Create New. The Choose StyleBook page displays all the StyleBooks available for your use in Citrix ADM. Scroll down and select Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 StyleBook. The StyleBook opens as a user interface page on which you can enter the values for all the parameters defined in this StyleBook.
2. In the Edge Server section, enter the following virtual IP (VIP) addresses and IP addresses of all the Edge Servers in the network.
   1. External VIP address and IP addresses for the Edge Servers that will be used for Access Edge, web conferencing Edge, and A/V Edge.
   2. Internal VIP address and IP addresses for the Edge Servers that will be connected to the internal network.
   3. Two external and two internal Edge Servers in your network.
3. In the Front-End Server section, enter the IP address of the virtual Front-End server (VIP) that is to be created for the Skype for Business Front-End servers. Also, enter the IP addresses of all the Skype for Business Front-End servers in the network.
4. In the Director Server section, enter the virtual IP address (VIP) for the Director servers that is to be created for the Skype for Business application. Also, enter the IP addresses for all the Skype for Business Director servers in the network. Create at least two Director servers for high-availability.
5. The Advanced Settings section lists all the default ports configured on the Citrix ADC instances for the three Skype servers.

The following table provides you a list of all default ports and protocols:

1. In the Target Instances section, select the three different Citrix ADC instance on which to deploy the three Skype for Business servers.

   Note

   You can also click the refresh icon to add recently discovered Citrix ADC instances in Citrix ADM to the available list of instances in this window.

2. Click Create to create the configuration on the selected Citrix ADC instances.

   Tip

   Citrix recommends that you select Dry Run to check the configuration objects that must be created on the target instance before you run the actual configuration on the instance.

When the configuration is successfully created, the StyleBook creates 25 load balancing virtual servers. That is, for each port, one load balancing virtual server is defined along with one service group, and the service group is bound to the load balancing virtual server. The configuration also adds the Front-End servers as service group members and binds them to the service group. The number of service group members created is equal to the number of Front-End servers created.

The following figure shows the objects created in each server: