This is the final post in the Twelve Days of Lync’mas series, to see an index of all twelve posts, click here.
On the twelfth day of Lync’mas my UC team gave to me: Support for Windows and SQL Server 2012.
Introduction
Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 for the 12th day of Lync’mas… get it? Yeah, ok it is a bit of a stretch, but it is the last post in the series and on Christmas day no less! Plus, while this will be a relatively short post, it is worth pointing out the new infrastructure planning and support for Lync Server 2013.
Supported Infrastructure
With the release of Lync Server 2013, you can now install Lync Server on Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012. The supportability of these environments has not changed for Lync Server 2010. Thus, it is not supported to install Lync Server 2010 on Windows Server 2012 or SQL Server 2012. The table below outlines these supported infrastructures.
| Lync Server | Windows Server Support (x64 only) | SQL Server Support (x64 only) |
| Lync Server 2010 | Windows Server 2008 with SP2 (or latest service pack – required) Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter |
SQL Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise SQL Server 2008 Express installed by default for Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition |
| Lync Server 2013 | Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 (or latest service pack – required) Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter |
SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Standard or Enterprise SQL Server 2012 Express installed by default for Lync Server 2013 Standard Edition |
Select Windows Server 2012 Features
Both Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 have a bunch of new features to be excited about. I’m not going to go into any detail about the new features, but would like to point out a few features of Windows Server 2012 that I think are especially pertinent to Lync Server 2013 deployments.
| Feature | Highlights | Comments |
| AD Certificate Services | Support for automatic renewal of certificates for non-domain joined computers Increased security enabled by default on the CA role service |
Automatic renewal of certificates for non-domain joined computers will be very helpful for Lync Edge servers and increased security is always a good thing |
| Hyper-V | Too many to mention | The improvements in Hyper-V brings the performance of a virtualized machine closer to the performance of a bare metal installation. This will make virtualization of Lync Server roles much more realistic for larger installations. |
| File Services | SMB 3.0 SMB Multichannel SMB Direct Scale-out File Server Transparent Failover |
The new features with SMB 3.0 and Windows Server 2012 File Services are perhaps some of the most exciting for me. The new features open up possibilities that were never before possible and give us new ways to think about deploying high performance, high availability file stores. |
Conclusion
It is a very exciting time to be a Microsoft partner. With the wave of new releases – including Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, SharePoint 2013, Office 2013, Lync Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2013- the entire stack from infrastructure to collaboration and communication promises a great narrative of increasing productivity and profitability while reducing complexity and total cost of ownership. All combining to make it a truly Merry Lync’mas for all!
Thus it is not?
Shouldn’t that have been a now instead of a not?
@Jonas Thanks for the comment. Actually, “thus it is not,” is correct. Lync Server 2010 is not supported on Windows Server 2012 or SQL Server 2012. Only Lync Server 2013 is supported on Windows Server 2012 or SQL Server 2012.
My bad, thought i read it enough times, guess not!