Installing SharePoint
Even though the experience of installing SharePoint 2010 varies depending on the physical topology of the SharePoint farm that you intend to build, it is a fairly easy process. This section covers installing SharePoint on a Windows 2008 Server environment on a single machine. In addition the section also looks at the additional steps needed to install SharePoint 2010 on Windows 7. (Yes, you read it right. You can install SharePoint on Windows 7, but it should be only for learning or development purposes.)
Understanding Prerequisites and Hardware Configuration for SharePoint 2010
The first thing you need to set up before installing SharePoint 2010 is the hardware configuration and the prerequisites. The hardware requirements for installing SharePoint on a single server are listed in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1. Hardware Configurations
The following must be installed as prerequisites before installing SharePoint Server 2010. These are installed automatically through the prerequisites preparation tool that comes with the SharePoint Server 2010 installation.
• Web Server (IIS) role
• Application Server role
• Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5 SP1
• Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime v1.0 (x64)
• Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0
• Microsoft Chart Controls for the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
• Windows PowerShell 2.0
• SQL Server 2008 Native Client
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services ADOMD.NET
• ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
• A hotfix for the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 that provides a method to support token authentication without transport security or message encryption in WCF
• Windows Identity Foundation (WIF)
You find more details on the minimum hardware configurations for the various topologies and the prerequisites at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx.
Understanding SharePoint SKUs in SharePoint 2010
SharePoint 2010 mainly comes in three editions. You can find details of the features supported by them at http://SharePoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx. SharePoint Foundation 2010 is the base for the other editions, which build upon that edition. The SKUs are as follows:
• SharePoint Foundation 2010
• SharePoint Server 2010 Standard Version
• SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition
Try It Yourself: Create Your First SharePoint Web Application
1. Browse to the SharePoint 2010 Central Administration by going to Start, All Programs, Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, SharePoint 2010 Central Administration.
2. In the Central Administration screen, go to Application Management and then select Manage Web Application.
3. Click the New button in the ribbon under the Web Applications tab.
4. Select the following configuration:
• Authentication: Classic Mode Authentication
• Port: 80
• Host Header: Blank
• Path: Leave default
• Authentication Provider: NTLM
• Allow Anonymous: No
• Use Secure Socket Layer (SSL): No
5. Select Create New Application Pool as shown in Figure 1.1 and make the account configurable. Select an appropriate account from the drop-down list under the Configurable radio button. If the drop-down list is disabled, you need to register a new managed account by clicking on the link Register New Managed Account. Enter the appropriate username and password. You can use the administrator account, but on production it is advisable to have a dedicated account for this. Click OK.
Figure 1.1. Create or select an application pool for a new web application.
6. Leave the rest of the settings as default and click OK.
7. The web application takes some time to create. When completed you see the screen shown in Figure 1.2 with the link to create a site collection.
Figure 1.2. Application Created dialog with link to create a new site collection
8. Click the Create Site Collection page.
9. Enter a title and select the Team Site template. Enter the primary site collection administrator and click OK.
10. The site collection is created and you can now access it through the URL http://localhost. In my case, this is http://splearn. This URL will be referenced in subsequent hours.
11. You also need to activate the publishing features for your team site as it is required in future hours. To activate the publishing feature, follow these steps:
a. Browse the site and go to Site Actions, Site Settings.
b. Under the Site Collection Administration section click Site Collection Features. Activate the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature.
c. Go back to Site Actions, Site Settings.
d. Under the Site Actions section, click Site Features and activate the SharePoint Server Publishing feature.
You are all set now. Don’t worry too much if you don’t understand all the steps. They are discussed in detail in subsequent hours.
The SharePoint 2010 Central Administration provides a vast set of configuration options. These options are discussed in Hour 16, “Understanding SharePoint 2010 Central Administration.”
Introducing Virtualization
Virtualization is a technology that is becoming more popular day by day. In simple terms virtualization enables you to build virtual machines that run within your host operating system. This offers many advantages:
• Virtualization keeps your host environment clean and light. All the installations are done in your virtual machine. The host environment just needs to have the basic prerequisites for running the virtual machines.
• You can create snapshots, which are like restore points that record an important stage of the virtual machine. For example, suppose you just installed SharePoint 2010 and you take a snapshot of the virtual machine. You can easily revert back to this stage by restoring the snapshot if something goes wrong. This is especially helpful in automated deployment testing on SharePoint where you need to daily run deployment scripts. Another advantage is reverting back to a previous build in production when you realize the new build has major issues.
• You can create multiple copies of the VM and distribute it to other team members by just copying the virtual hard disks. This saves a lot of time when you are doing SharePoint development as a team and want every team member to have an environment consistent with yours.
• You can run multiple environments within the same machine.
The main disadvantage of virtualization is that it requires a powerful host operating system and power hardware as well. Virtualization looks to be the way to go in the case of SharePoint 2010, provided you have a powerful hosting environment.