Introduction This book is the first time the Sybex Mastering series has touched on the subject of Microsoft's Unified Communications (UC) platform. With the release of Lync 2010, we are into the third generation of a platform that provides a comprehensive set of functionality, which has placed it in the top right of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UC in 2011. Lync is a new name for the platform, a fact that suggests the way in which the product has had a complete makeover. While there is an upgrade path from earlier versions of Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2 (described in Chapter 7), there is a massive amount of new functionality in Lync, for both client and server. With this in mind, we set out to reinforce any prior knowledge you might have of the server platform, but not to assume any, and thereby take you on a journey from the key fundamentals of Lync all the way through deployment to how best to integrate Lync with third-party systems. We have attempted to ensure that you can gain insight into real-world environments both through the use of lab systems that represent those that might be found in an enterprise network and also through the use of real-world case studies that highlight examples of our day-to-day experience as consultants to some of the world's largest organizations. What You Need to Run Lync Server 2010 As you read through this book, you will find that there are a range of components that all come together to make Lync function. These include the Lync Server software, Lync client, and the supporting technology from Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server