In this documentation example, Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess has been deployed in a single server, single site deployment. The DirectAccess servers are configured with two network interfaces; the internal network interface resides on the internal LAN and the external network interfaces resides in the external perimeter network or DMZ. DirectAccess is configured for certificate authentication and supports both Windows 7 and Windows 8.x clients. The NLS are deployed on dedicated systems. Infrastructure is in place to facilitate load balancing DirectAccess servers in site A, as well as to deploy DirectAccess in a multisite configuration with load balanced DirectAccess servers in site B. An additional LoadMaster is located in site A to provide internal geographic load balancing for NLS. Although not specifically documented here, the LoadMasters themselves are single points of failure and should be configured in a redundant manner to ensure the highest levels of availability. In all, the deployment includes the following:

  1. DirectAccess Servers – 2 per site
  2. NLS servers – 2 per site
  3. LoadMasters – 2 edge-facing (1 per site) and 1 internal

The external DNS name space used in this environment is example.net. The Internal DNS name space is lab.example.net.

The following use cases will be included in this documentation:

  • Load balancing of DirectAccess servers
  • Load balancing of NLS
  • Geographic load balancing of DirectAccess entry points
  • Geographic load balancing of NLS