Microsoft® Lync Server 2010 Unleashed

Central Management Store

Although not specifically part of the new server administration tools for Lync Server, it is nonetheless useful to understand that the information modified by the management tools is now stored in a different way. Although attributes such as a user’s SIP URI or a phone number is still stored in Active Directory, items such as server configurations or the services are now stored in a Central Management Store. This store, not surprisingly, runs on the Central Management Server, and it’s typically collocated on one front-end pool or on a Standard Edition server.

The move to this Central Management Store allows Microsoft to better store the data needed to set up, operate, maintain, and administer a Communications Server deployment. ...