Setting up MOSS with Virtualization (from Scrath)

From Scratch you say? Well that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. As an example, if you consider Jello Instant Pudding home cooking (from scratch) we may be on different pages here. I have just built a new development box, i.e. bought all the components, strapped on the old trusty aniti-static wristband and went to town. Lo and behold, after a three hour fury-ridden battle with technology, a new box was born...

And what will that new box do? House a 'virtualized' MOSS 2007 server farm of course ;)

This begins a series of posts I will put up in the next few months documenting the entire process (hopefully w/ screencasts and all). Hopefully? Yeh, things are good w/ technology these days, and so I'm handling two major projects, along with balancing two young boys who mainly see me as a sparring partner. How many web parts can one code while enduring side kicks and rear naked chokes? Stay tuned... I'll let you know.

Next in series: MOSS Box part 1 - the guts

ListMania - tastic

One resource I check often are the Customer Lists on Amazon.com. I have been through enough technologies to know that not every book on a topic is worth reading and you definitely want to focus on what's important... now the question is, how do you know what is important if you haven't read the book??

Well, let someone else do it for you!

So... want to learn MOSS 2007? This list by Vendant Kulshrestha is a good place to get some useful guidance:

MOSS 2007 Books

Happy Reading!

Sharepoint Learning Guide

One of the things we find on client sites is rampant confusion about the different product offerings and version concerning the Sharepoint landscape. .Net developers and even architects often do not understand what is out-of-the box for Sharepoint and what needs to be custom developed. One of the most oft-asked questions seems to be:

What is the difference between Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS)?

A very useful link for some answers is:

Sharepoint Learning Guide

It's a great overview of the technology and its components.

Breaking the Ice...

Well, this is the first bolg post... let's break the ice.
Let's start with who I am:
I am an IT professional with over a decade of experience - ranging from full scale J2EE (I guess Java EE now) enterprise applications to Cobol CICS (Job Control Language - can you say old school?) and everything in between. The in between includes forays into Ruby on Rails, Oracle, Information Security and RIA (Adobe Flex).
And what I'm a part of:
I am one member of a team of highly qualified professionals who are involved in numerous MOSS engagements throughout the Washington DC area (yes, we are willing to travel for the right project).

The intent of this blog is to consolidate disparate resources and our own experiences surrounding Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) 2007. This will include

• implementation
• optimization
• architecture
• custom development
• integration
• best practices
  
• and of course the occasional rants.

After evaluating the technology landscape for the last several years, we feel Sharepoint and especially MOSS 2007 can literally change the way business gets done. This is not a sales pitch or slogan - MOSS 2007 as a platform for collaboration and knowledge base, as well as application development is truly revolutionary.

Hopefully this blog will serve as a central resource for myself, my Washington DC MOSS team and the MOSS community at large.