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I have a few questions about developing a full-featured internet website using Sharepoint 2010. First of all, on TechNet it says:

SharePoint Foundation 2010 does not support single label domain names. For more information, see Information about configuring Windows for domains with single-label DNS names.

What is this suppose to mean.

Secondly, is there something I should know about hosting a public SharePoint foundation website on the internet? Anything with domains? I'll probably buy a Virtual Server to host this website, as per requirements posted here.

I have development experience with SharePoint, but not so much of the IT experience.

Many Thanks!

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From the research I did, it appears that I do not need anything special for SharePoint Foundation website to run on an internet facing site. However, I need valid licenses for Sql Server and Windows Server. I also need to abide by Microsoft's EULA.

Hope this answers the question for someone else.

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Single Domain names are ones that don't have a dot in them. Like 'Contoso' instead of 'Contoso.local'. Note this is different from a Netbios name.

If you want to host a public SharePoint site, you will need an Internet Connector license to every web front end which is exposed to the internet, as well as an Internet Facing license for SharePoint (called SharePoint FIS license, 'For Internet Sites'). Note that this is very expensive compared to the relative cost of licensing and running a regular Windows Server 2008 system.

Here's a guide to the costs: http://stovereffect.com/2010/07/03/sharepoint-2010-licensing-part-v-sharepoint-2010-licensing-costs/

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I was under the impression that for SharePoint Foundation 2010 (and WSS v3.0) a SharePoint FIS license is not required, did this change from SharePoint 2007 to 2010? Also from what I read, if you host SharePoint Foundation 2010/WSS v3.0 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Web Edition an Internet Connector license is not necessary either (otherwise I'm getting into trouble soon) when using SQL 2008 R2 Express. Can you shed some light into this? TIA! – Sig Weber Apr 28 '12 at 18:06
I'm no licensing expert at all, so you may indeed be correct with not needing FIS on Foundation or Server 2K8 R2 Web. I have never really worked fully on projects that only use Foundation (and only worked on WSS 3.0 only projects about 4 years ago, always been on Server projects since), so my understanding of Foundation licensing might very well be wrong. Always double check with a licensing partner (it's a complex topic, especially when your virtualize, there are folks that specialise in just licensing!). – James Love Apr 28 '12 at 21:40
As with James, I'm not a licensing expert, but there are many factors involved with running using SQL Express. In the vast majority of cases, using SQL Express is far from a best practice, and if you expect to have any traffic to the site at all, that's probably not what you should use. You will need to consult with a licensing person to determine if you need all of the licenses, but the installs I've been part of (while 2010 Server, not 2010 Foundation) did require the internet connector. Depending on your total costs, some of the more robust hosted services (ie: FPWeb) may be an option too. – webdes03 Apr 28 '12 at 22:41
Thanks that answers the first part of my question, but the licenses you mentioned completely confused me. I will likely have a Windows Server 2008 R2 VPS, with probably Sql Express, and SharePoint foundation. As far as I know, that should not cost me more than my hosting bill, since SQL express and SP Foundation is free...Am I missing anything? – Pathachiever11 Apr 28 '12 at 23:51
but I'm not sure how this would work since its an internet site... – Pathachiever11 Apr 28 '12 at 23:52
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I have build a few Internet Facing Sites. Most of them have been on SharePoint Server variations , which require you to have Internet facing License along with a few restrictions on the usage of that farm. For eg: I believe an Internet Facing Farm / Web Application cannot be used to serve "Internal" consumption of the farm.

The reason some companies go for the paid version of SharePoint against Foundation is to utilize on service applications being spread across multiple servers, publishing features , page layout issues etc.

When taking Foundation into the mixture , you need to get an Internet Connector license ( I may have got the exact name) but that is for your Windows 2008 R2 / 2008 box to be placed in an Internet facing scenario. I believe you only need your Web Front Ends to be licensed in that case as you wouldnt be exposing your APP server to the Web.

About SQL - Not the strongest believer of Express , but if you are expecting less than 300 users or so a month to your site , I think Express would be the right choice of SQL for you.

If however you are going to be standing up a high volume of Internet users recommend either look at hanging off your existing SQL infrastructure or build a new one for this farm.

This link here shows a bunch of SPF2010 Internet facing sites - http://www.wssdemo.com/livepivot/#/viewerStateKey/62d7ec5d-e5b0-46ae-873d-f46e82ae7417

Cheers

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