Hi!

Is it mandatory to have two NICs in Lync Server?

Thanks.

Hi!

Is it mandatory to have two NICs in Lync Server?

Thanks.

For a Lync Edge Server, yes. But not for a Lync Front-end server. If you only have one subnet and you need to get it running, maybe the following blog might provide you with a work-around:

Lync Edge Server on a single subnet
http://uclobby.com/2014/04/17/lync-edge-server-on-a-single-subnet/

Hi create_share, 

Only for Edge server , you need two NICs in two separate subnets. One for the internal-facing interface and one for the external-facing interface. The internal and external subnets must not be routable to each other. And if you have other subnets in internal networks, you have to add the static routes to make sure all the internal subnets where a Lync client resides will need to be able to communicate with the Edge Servers internal NIC.

 

Best regards,

Eric

Is it possible to have it as a Virtual Server?

Yes, You can have Virtual server for all the Lync server workloads. Refer to the below link.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg399035(v=ocs.15).aspx

Thanks. Should the second NIC be a physical NIC assigned to VM or can also be assigned from the same virtual switch which is already assigned for internal nic?

Secondly, we have a hardware firewall. Should we assign 3 private IP addresses to the external interface and configure 3 public ip address on firewall and forward the ports or it is better to assign public ips to the external interface directly?

What is the proper way?

Thanks.

Well.. Doesn't matter if the second NIC is a physical or Virtual in VM. The idea of the two NIC is already stated by Eric.

To your Second concern, I believe it depends on your External access design & requirement in compliance with your department IT security.

Kindly follow the below link to understand the approved scenario for External access (Edge).

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg425727(v=ocs.15).aspx