A Lync Server is made up of several main server roles. Based on the Lync 2013 topology, each of these servers has a defined set of functionalities which we will go into more detail later. In a typical Lync topology, we have the following server roles:
Front End Server
Back End Server (Microsoft SQL)
Edge Server
Mediation Server
Director Server
Persistent Chat Server (formerly Group Chat Servers)
Note
A full list of functionalities of all Lync 2013 server components can be found on the following Microsoft website: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398536(v=ocs.15).aspx.
Microsoft offers two different versions of the Lync Server 2013: the Lync Standard Edition and Lync Enterprise Edition. It is important to select the correct version based on your company's needs. There are also On-Premise and cloud-based versions, we will talk about each of these versions in more detail later.