Understanding the limitations of document management and collaboration offered by the network operating system and standard office applications reinforces an understanding of the value offered by the SharePoint product line.
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services require Windows Server 2003 to run. Any of the different versions will workWindows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, DataCenter Edition, or Web Edition (limited functionality)with the latest service packs.
A Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Portal Server 2003 server must be in a Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003 domain.
Windows SharePoint Services provides the core components required for the creation of websites that facilitate collaboration and offer complete document management tools. Use Windows SharePoint Services for smaller organizations or departments that can benefit from its features and don't have large budgets for software and hardware purchases, and that have less than 2GB of data to store.
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 extends the functionality of Windows SharePoint Services to that of an enterprise portal solution through enhanced management, searching capabilities, and extensibility.
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 is required if any of the following functionality is required: automatic categorization, audiences, topic areas, news, personal sites, shared services, single sign-on, site directory, or user profiles.
SQL Server 2000 is typically the database engine used for production environments, and either the Standard or Enterprise versions can be used.
For smaller organizations or for proof of concept testing and to limit the software costs, the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) can be used with SharePoint Portal Server 2003, or the slightly different Windows SharePoint Services Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (abbreviated as WMSDE) can be used.
Although access to SharePoint 2003 sites is available from a number of different browsers, it is recommended to use Internet Explorer 6.0 with the latest service packs.
Although previous versions of Office (2000 and XP) can be used in conjunction with Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003, it is recommended to use Office 2003 because it offers the tightest integration and provides collaboration and document management tools not found in previous versions.
For more complex environments, the SharePoint Server componentsWeb Server component, Search component, Index Management component, Job Management component, SQL or MSDE databases, and Backwards-Compatibility componentcan be divided up over multiple servers to improve performance.
Use document workspaces to quickly and easily create a website that enhances team collaboration and is used to store all related documents. By default, the document workspace site includes the announcements, shared documents, tasks, members, and links Web Parts.
Use SharePoint Portal Server 2003 personal sites (accessible as My Site on the Portal home page) to allow each site user to create a customized environment that collects and summarizes items directed to them or to audience groups they are members of.
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 offers advanced searching features to search by items, areas, document libraries, documents, lists, people, picture libraries, or pictures.
Using an HTML transformation server allows viewing of the contents of files through the browser for users who don't have Word, Excel, or PowerPoint installed.
