Van Laan on Sharepoint and all things Microsoft

Microsoft Product Lifecycle and Version Evaluation

The support lifecycle policy FAQ:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

The support lifecycle index:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselectindex

Some key notes here are that most versions of Windows Server 2003 are ending mainstream support in mid-to-late 2010.

SQl 2005 support lifecycle:

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=2855

Mainstream ends 4/2011

Windows Server 2003 Version Evaluation:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758523.aspx

Things like you can only address up to 4 GB in Standard, up to 32GB in Enterprise. Or you can only go above quad-proc with Enterprise.

Capacity Planning and Caching

TechNet's library entry on SharePoint capacity and planning:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262971.aspx

Some good notes, including repeated recommendations to use a 64-bit architecture, at the very least on the SQL side. It provides for greater directly addressable memory space, improved bus architecture (more data passed to cache and procs), and larger number of procs (only 32 on 32-bit architecture).

From microsoft.com : Capacity Planning for Windows SharePoint Services

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/wss/2/all/adminguide/en-us/stsb07.mspx?mfr=true

Some good info on requests per user per second, etc.

From deeper in the same TechNet library as above:

Tune Web server performance (Office SharePoint Server)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc298550.aspx

Some specific recommendations including, again,  a very hard rec to use 64-bit for WFEs. Don't use web gardens. Also, and this is a big one in large farms: Use dedicated Web servers for services that are not exposed to end-users, such as indexing, CA, Profiles, and Excel Services.

Also, use Kerberos for large number of requests.

Some more in-depth tips on object caching:

http://www.sharepointblogs.com/bobbyhabib/archive/2008/07/02/different-type-of-moss-caching-mechanisms.aspx

MSDN's take on Internet site optimization:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727371.aspx

This article has some great tips, including instructions for the following:

"Delay load the core .js file (~250 KB uncompressed) in the background (load it asynchronously), which allows the page to load faster and become available to the user more quickly. Delay loading results in a better user experience because the .js file loads asynchronously. This is also the safest option. "

Some specific instructions on enabling Static compression for IIS 6.0 from both Bill Baer and Scott Forsyth:

http://blogs.technet.com/wbaer/archive/2008/01/30/http-compression-internet-information-services-6-0-and-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.aspx

http://weblogs.asp.net/owscott/archive/2004/01/12/57916.aspx