Microsoft® Lync® Server 2013 Unleashed Second Edition

Straddling the Internal Firewall

Another firewall topology that, unfortunately, is used too often is where the internal interface of the Edge Server does not pass through any firewall. Instead, it straddles the firewall by being connected directly to the internal network. Administrators still secure the external adapter in this scenario. However, instead of creating the appropriate rules for the internal adapter, they just place it on the internal network, as shown in Figure 31.5.

Figure 31.5. Lync Server firewall straddling.

There is not much benefit to straddling a firewall with the internal adapter because there are risks are associated with ...