Sharepoint Portal Server Architecture
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 share the same underlying technologies. This is a change from the first version of SharePoint Portal Server. Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 did not share underlying technology with SharePoint Team Services from Microsoft. In this version of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, SharePoint Portal Server, as the server product, works with and builds upon the architecture of Windows SharePoint Services. This chapter does not cover the feature differences between SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services. Instead, it focuses on the architectural differences that are found in SharePoint Portal Server and explains the architecture of services that are particular to SharePoint Portal Server.
Security Architecture for Sharepoint Products and Technologies
In this chapter, we will focus on authentication, authorization, code access security, and communication security in SharePoint Products and Technologies. Research has shown that early design of authentication and authorization eliminates a high percentage of vulnerabilities. Code access security allows code to be trusted to varying degrees, depending on where the code originates from and on other aspects of the code’s identity. Communication security is an integral part of securing your deployment to protect data passed between users and your site, and between the servers in your deployment. For discussion on security policies for SharePoint Products and Technologies refer to Chapter 24, “Information Security Policies for SharePoint Products and Technologies.”
Architecting Sharepoint Products and Technologies for Operating System Topologies
The latest versions of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies have specific requirements for software and for domain membership. Both Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services must be installed on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and most, but not all, configurations require that the server running either of these applications be a member of a domain. Of course, all features are available if the domain is a Windows Server 2003 domain, but what if a network environment does not have a Windows Server 2003 domain? In a Microsoft Windows NT domain environment, SharePoint Products and Technologies have much of the same functionality.
The Sharepoint Portal Server Object Model
This chapter will focus on the SharePoint Portal Server object model from the administrative perspective. It will cover the basics of the object model and provide some code samples that would be of use to administrators. Other general background information would be useful for administrators to know about, should they run into a problem with a Web Part or add-on, but the chapter does not provide in-depth developer information. Developers will get a general understanding of the object model from reading this chapter but should refer to the SharePoint Products and Technologies SDK for an in-depth reference.
The following is a list of database tables used in a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services topology.