Part 2 of the draft: Chapter 6 DNS, Certificate and Firewall Requirements for Lync Server 2013

Categories:

Infrastructure requirements

 

Now that I have outlined the building blocks of a Lync infrastructure, there are three more topics to understand if we want to have a working infrastructure:

  • Firewall rules required to allow communications for Lync clients, Lync servers and for the aforementioned non-Lync servers with additional services we need
  • DNS settings to make Lync services available both on the internal network and from the Internet
  • Structure of the certificates. Lync is secure by design and digital certificates are mandatory for every Lync 2013 infrastructure


Firewall Rules Required for Lync Server 2013

 

A deep dive about firewall rules for Lync Server 2013 should include TechNet article Port Requirements http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398798.aspx and the  Lync 2013 Protocol Workloads poster http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39968 (i.e. to check the requirements for the different scenarios). However to make the topic easier to understand, I have tried to create an explanation based on some assumption.

  • The first assumption I will make here is that your network has a segregated DMZ to make services available to the Internet in a secure manner. A couple of the possible solutions for such a deployment are
  • Using two firewalls. Note: usually the technology used for the firewalls is not important. However if a SIP trunk is required in our scenario, it is important to have a SIP Application-level gateway (ALG).
  • A three-legged firewall that will create a logical demilitarized zone

There is no difference in the result, from the functionality point of view, going for the first option or the second one. A single firewall would imply a single point of failure and higher security risk, because a single Internet-connected device will be exposed both on the DMZ and on the internal network. Having two different firewalls, a front (FW2) and a back firewall (FW1), as shown in figure 6.7, is more secure, especially if we are going to use two different platforms or solutions for security. In the aforementioned scenario, an exploitable security vulnerability on a single technology will not affect the second firewall

A layout including only firewalls and networks that will have an impact on our Lync deployment
A layout including only firewalls and networks that will have an impact on our Lync deployment

Figure 6.7 layout including only firewalls and networks that will have an impact on our Lync deployment

  • The second assumption will be that we will not deploy High Availability or load balancing systems (including Enterprise Edition pools of Lync Front Ends). Although you may require them in a real-world design, they add a configuration overhead that will not help understanding the fundamentals of Lync Server 2013 network traffic requirements
  • The third assumption is that we will use NAT every time that a public IP is required. Exposing directly a server to the Internet usually is not the best security solution available
  • Fourth assumption is that the Edge Server will use three addresses on the “external” network interface card to expose services to the Internet. The addresses are the ones we have already seen:
Edge_IPs
Edge_IPs
  • Last assumption: no integration or connection with Office Communications Server 2007 deployments or clients is required

We will have to grant the following types of network traffic:

6.1         From servers in the DMZ to servers in the internal network

6.2         From servers in the DMZ to the external network

6.3          From the external network to servers in the DMZ

6.4          From servers in internal network to servers in DMZ

6.5          Network traffic related to Lync clients in the internal network

Note: the point 6.5 of the list is interesting only if you have firewalls (or end-point firewalls) separating the networks containing the Lync clients and the Lync servers.


 6.1       Network Traffic from servers in The DMZ to Servers in the Internal Network

 

On the Back-End firewall, FW1,for traffic starting from the  reverse proxy, the following ports will be required

Reverse proxy Rules on Back-End firewall (FW1)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
Internal NIC of the reverse proxy TCP (HTTPS) Any 4443 Lync Front End Web Services on the Lync Front End
Internal NIC of the reverse proxy TCP(HTTPS) Any 443 Office Web Apps Server PowerPoint presentation sharing

 

On the Back-End firewall, FW1, for traffic starting from the Edge Server, the following ports will be required

Lync Edge Server Rules on Back-End firewall (FW1)

Source Interface

Protocol

Source Port

Destination Port

Destination

Service

Internal NIC of the Edge TCP (SIP/MTLS) Any 5061 Lync Front End Inbound SIP traffic


6.2       Network Traffic from Servers in the DMZ to the External Network

 

On the Front firewall, FW2, from the Edge Server, the following ports will be required. It is helpful to remind you the fourth assumption: we have three different IPs on the external network interface of the Lync Edge Server: Access, Webconf and AV. The firewall rules for network traffic from the external network to the Edge will have to point to one of the three IPs, as explained in the following table.

Lync Edge Server Rules on Front-End firewall (FW2)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) TCP (XMPP) Any 5269 To federated XMPP partners Standard server-to-server communication port for XMPP
External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) TCP (SIP/MTLS) Any 5061 Federation Services and Partners Lync and Skype Federation using SIP
External NIC of the Edge (AV IP) UDP (Stun/Turn) Any 3478 Any Stun/Turn negotiation for candidates
External NIC of the Edge (AV IP) TCP (Stun/Turn) Any 443 Any Stun/Turn negotiation for candidates
           

 


6.3       Network Traffic from the External Network to Servers in the DMZ

 

On the Front firewall, FW2, traffic from the external network to the reverse proxy, the following ports will be required

To the reverse proxy from the external network on Front-End firewall (FW2)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
Any TCP (HTTPS) Any 443 Reverse proxy external network interface Access to the web services on the Lync Front End

 

On the Front-End firewall, FW2, traffic from the external network to the Edge Server, the following ports will be required

To the Lync Edge from the external network on Front-End firewall (FW2)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
Any TCP (SIP/TLS) Any 443 External NIC of the Edge (Webconf IP) Web Conferencing Media
Any TCP (SIP/TLS) Any 443 External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) Client-to-server SIP traffic for external user access
Federated XMPP partners TCP (XMPP) Any 5269 External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) Standard server-to-server communication port for XMPP
Federation Services and Partners TCP (SIP/MTLS) Any 5061 External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) Lync and Skype Federation using SIP
Any UDP (Stun/Turn) Any 3478 External NIC of the Edge (AV IP) Stun/Turn negotiation for candidates
Any TCP (Stun/Turn) Any 443 External NIC of the Edge (AV IP) Stun/Turn negotiation for candidates

 


6.4       Network Traffic from Servers in the Internal Network to Servers in the DMZ

 

On the Back-End firewall, FW1, for traffic starting from the internal network, the following ports will be required

To the Lync Edge from the internal network on Back-End firewall (FW1)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
Lync Front End TCP (XMPP/MTLS) Any 23456 Internal NIC of the Edge Outbound XMPP traffic
Lync Front End TCP (SIP/MTLS) Any 5061 Internal NIC of the Edge Outbound SIP traffic
Lync Front End TCP (PSOM/MTLS) Any 8057 Internal NIC of the Edge Web conferencing traffic
Lync Front End TCP (SIP/MTLS) Any 5062 Internal NIC of the Edge Authentication of A/V users
Lync Front End TCP (HTTPS) Any 4443 Internal NIC of the Edge Replication of CMS on the Lync Edge
Lync Front End TCP (Stun/Turn) Any 443 Internal NIC of the Edge Stun/Turn negotiation for candidates

 


6.5       Network Traffic Related to Lync Clients in the Internal Network

 

The following rules are required on any end-point firewall and on any internal firewall that controls traffic coming from the Lync clients on the internal network.

From To Feature

Protocol

Port Bidirectional Note
Internal Client Lync Front End Presence and IMAV and Web ConferencingApplication SharingEnterprise Voice

SIP/TLS

5061

   
Presence and IMAV and Web Conferencing

HTTPS

443

Enterprise Voice

STUN/TCP

AV and Web ConferencingApplication Sharing

SRTP/UDP

49152-65535

   
AV and Web Conferencing

PSOM/TLS

8057

   
Enterprise Voice

TURN/TCP

448

   
Enterprise Voice

UDP

3478

   
Internal Client A Internal Client B AV and Web ConferencingApplication Sharing

SRTP/UDP

1024-65535

Yes

Peer to Peer Sessions
Internal Client Lync Edge AV and Web ConferencingApplication Sharing

STUN/TCP

443

 
Enterprise Voice

TURN/TCP

AV and Web Conferencing

UDP

3478

   
Internal Client Exchange UM Enterprise Voice

SRTP/RTCP

60000-64000

Yes

 
Internal Client Voice Gateway Enterprise Voice

SRTP/RTCP

30000-39999

  With Media Bypass
Internal Client Director Presence and IM

SIP/TLS

5061

   

 


Notes Related to the Firewall Rules Required for Lync Server 2013

 

Lync Server 2013 Edge Server requires DNS resolution and http access to revocation lists of certificates. Depending from your network design, the aforementioned services could be on the Internet or could be available using services on the internal network (like a proxy). The following rule is to be adapted to your network layout

 

Additional Lync Edge Server Rules on Front-End firewall (FW2) or on Back-End firewall (FW1)

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) TCP Any 53 DNS servers for DMZ DNS resolution
External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) UDP Any 53 DNS servers for DMZ DNS resolution
External NIC of the Edge (Access IP) TCP (HTTP) Any 80 Depends on the HTTP navigation service available CRL verifications

 

Centralized Logging Service (a new feature in Lync Server 2013) requires additional ports on the back-end firewall (for more details see the TechNet article Using the Centralized Logging Service http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj688101.aspx

Lync Edge Server Rules on Back-End firewall (FW1) for centralized logging

Source Interface Protocol Source Port Destination Port Destination Service
Centralized Logging Service TCP (MTLS) Any 50001 Internal NIC of the Edge Centralized Logging Service
Centralized Logging Service TCP (MTLS) Any 50002 Internal NIC of the Edge Centralized Logging Service
Centralized Logging Service TCP (MTLS) Any 50003 Internal NIC of the Edge Centralized Logging Service

 Part 1 of the draft is available here