Chapter 2. Architecting a SharePoint 2010 Deployment

Many organizations have made the decision to use SharePoint for one or more reasons but are not sure how to start deploying the infrastructure needed by the platform. There are many misconceptions about SharePoint, and further confusing the issue is that the architecture and terminology of SharePoint 2010 has changed dramatically from the previous versions of the technology.

Many SharePoint 2010 products and technologies are extremely powerful and scalable, but it is critical to properly match the needs of the organizations to a design plan. Matching these needs with a properly planned and implemented SharePoint farm is highly recommended and will go far toward ensuring that deployment of SharePoint is a success.

This chapter covers SharePoint 2010 design and architecture. The structural components of SharePoint are explained and compared. Server roles, database design decisions, and application server placement are discussed. This chapter focuses specifically on physical SharePoint infrastructure and design. Logical design of SharePoint user components, such as site layout and structure, are covered in the chapters in Part IV, “Using SharePoint 2010 Technologies for Collaboration and Document Management.”