Microsoft Sharepoint Products and Technologies Resource Kit eBook

186 Part III: Planning and Deployment
Common Infrastructure Requirements
SharePoint Portal Server requires several common infrastructure components. Not all
of these are required for every topology, but they are covered here because they are
common among multiple topologies.
Network Interfaces
In all topologies except single-server ones, ideally each front-end Web server should
be equipped with at least two network interface cards (NIC). One will connect the
servers to the external network, and one is for communications between the other
server farm computers.
The Ethernet switches should be, at minimum, 100-megabit, full-duplex
switches. If you anticipate growth beyond a five-server, high-availability medium
server farm configuration, you should use gigabit (1000base-T) switches and NICs.
DNS
Each front-end Web server should have access to the corporate domain name
server (DNS). During the construction and configuration of the servers, you should
have the ability to create unique names for the corporate portal site, as well as for
each divisional portal site and site collection. Make sure to reserve meaningful
names for these portal sites.
Active Directory
A Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain
or Microsoft Windows NT 4 domain is required for a SharePoint Portal Server 2003
deployment. For more information about Active Directory, please refer to the Windows
2003 Resource Kit.
Microsoft SQL Server, SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows
SharePoint Services require both local and domain accounts for proper operations.
For a listing of the required accounts, please see Chapter 12, “Deploying a Medium
and Large Server Farm.”
Software Licensing
There are three typical SharePoint Portal Server deployments: small, medium, and
large farms.
Windows SharePoint Services requires Windows Server 2003 licenses. Windows
Server is licensed on a Client Access License (CAL) and Server basis. All
employees or employee devices that access a Windows Server 2003 server must
have a CAL, and all servers that provide any Windows Server 2003 functionality must
have a Server license.