Better OS for Sharepoint Server Installation

Question

I have one question about Sharepoint Server 2010 installation. The server can be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 machine (either by installing the OS, dual boot OS or using Virtual Machine) OR on Win 7 x64 machine.

I need to learn Sharepoint development (sharepoint designer, sql server are some of the tools that would be required to learn) and other features of sharepoint. Simultaneously I would also be learning Enterprise Project Management.

Hence I would like to know few things as mentioned below.

a. Which OS should be primarly consider to install Server 2010: Windows Server 2008 OR Win 7 x64

b. If the answer to above question is Windows Server 2008, then what would be most efficient and preferred way: Installing the OS as a whole, dual boot or using Virtual Machine.

c. Correct me if I'm wrong, If I install Sharepoint Server does that mean that I can use Designer, Infopath, Workflow, PPS? I can also create my own local website to learn sharepoint development. Correct?

Let me know for more info.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Which OS should be primarly consider to install Server 2010: Windows Server 2008 OR Win 7 x64

It is recommended to use a Server OS (Windows Server 2008 or higher) because MS supports such an environment. Additionally, SP is a server products that needs to be installed on a server OS. Windows 7 is a consumer OS. While you can install SP 2010 on Windows 7. Going forward, this is not an option. In SP 2013, you must install SP on a Server OS. If you have the option between a server OS or a consumer OS, I would go with the Server OS.

If the answer to above question is Windows Server 2008, then what would be most efficient and preferred way: Installing the OS as a whole, dual boot or using Virtual Machine.

Installing the OS on your machine will have the best performance as opposed to using dual boot or VMs. On the other hand, if you use VMs, you have the opportunity to take snapshots and manage various VM environments more efficiently. That is, you will get the benefits of virtualization. I would go with the VM approach using VirtualBox (is free and does what you want).

Correct me if I'm wrong, If I install Sharepoint Server does that mean that I can use Designer, Infopath, Workflow, PPS? I can also create my own local website to learn sharepoint development. Correct?

Correct. Just make sure you meet the recommended hardware and software requirements for setting up a SP development environment.

But, if you ask me what is the most efficient/productive development environment for SP today, I would point you to CloudShare.com. You can search and find various posts here in SP.SE giving you the advantages of using cloudshare. I won't bore you. I am not affiliated with CloudShare in any way.

Answer 2

If you need sharepoint for learning and development (not production) you can also set it up on windows 7. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869.aspx

Answer 3

You mentioned EPM. If that means Project Server then Windows 7 is out - it won't install on W7.

If at all possible you want a virtualized server OS running a configuration as close to production as possible. That means active directory, full blown sql server, etc.

And a virtualized environment is preferable because you will want to revert your machine to a clean slate regularly. If you use a physical machine your content DBs will get bloated, you will have obscure dependencies on old solutions that will cause deployment issues in production, and all sorts of funny things could happen. So to ensure you have a pristine environment you can roll back a VM snapshot every few days or so.

Another reason you want a virtualized environment is you can create snapshots at different patch levels. If you've ever tried to restore a site colleciton backup on the wrong patch level you will understand why:)