Hardware

First and foremost, you will need a 64-bit machine. SharePoint 2010 mandates 64-bit hardware. Either a desktop or laptop will work. As I deliver presentations and attend speaking events frequently, I decided to get a Lenovo W510 (8GB RAM, 256GB Solid State Disk) laptop. The SSD is a little pricey but the performance gain is well worth it. The bootup time is blazing fast, and the noise factor is much lower. Make sure you load up on RAM and disk storage when purchasing the system. It is best to run the VM from a separate spindle from the host OS. If your budget allows, get two SSDs or at least a secondary high-speed disk drive. You will be grateful of the increased productivity and thank me later.

Virtualization

Once the hardware requirements are satisfied, you have to decide on the operating system configurations. SharePoint 2010 requires Windows 2008, but most systems come preinstalled with Windows 7. Your options include dual boot and virtualization. For maximal flexibility and convenience, I went with the virtualization route. The major virtualization options are Microsoft Hyper-V, VM Ware, and Sun VirtualBox. I have been using and liking the freebie VirtualBox since SharePoint 2010 beta came out few months ago. However, Hyper-V and VM Ware are probably more flexible. This comes down what you have available at your fingertips.

Architecture Topology

If portability is more important than scalability, a stand-alone installation will probably suffice as a sandbox solution. Otherwise, consider running a complete installation in case you need to ever delegate different application roles to numerous other servers/VMs.

Resources

http://delicious.com/kennethlo/sharepoint2010+sandbox

Above is my delicious bookmark collection that points to additional details on this topic. I followed Andrew Connell’s hardware recommendations. If you are using VirtualBox, Eric Harlan’s How to Install SharePoint 2010 Guide will be especially handy. Thank you, Andrew and Eric!

First week of each month is filled with users group meetings. In addition to the CapArea meeting on Wednesday night, I will  be presenting at the SharePoint Users Group of Washington DC (SUGDC) meeting on June 10 at 7pm. The presentation is titled “Sustaining & Optimizing Enterprise SharePoint 2007 Systems”. A brief session description follows:

For every organization that has committed to upgrading SharePoint 2010, there are many more organizations that still need to sustain their existing enterprise SharePoint 2007 systems. In order to keep the existing systems healthy, you will need to learn about the arts of tuning SharePoint. In this session, we will go over hardware and software architectural designs you encounter in your daily operations, optimization and tuning techniques, as well as industry best practices. This session will also include a 20-minute demo of Microsoft SharePoint tools, such as Microsoft SharePoint Administration Toolkit v3 and SharePoint Diagnostics (SPDiag).

The presentation deck will be uploaded to the Downloads section of my blog. Cheers!

For every organization that has committed to upgrading SharePoint 2010, there are many more organizations that still need to sustain their existing enterprise SharePoint 2007 systems. In order to keep the existing systems healthy, you will need to learn about the arts of tuning SharePoint. In this session, we will go over hardware and software architectural designs you encounter in your daily operations, optimization and tuning techniques, as well as industry best practices. This session will also include a 20-minute demo of Microsoft SharePoint tools, such as Microsoft SharePoint Administration Toolkit v3 and SharePoint Diagnostics (SPDiag).

Please visit the official Capital Area.NET SSIG website for more details. Twitter fans can follow @CapAreaDotNet. Ciao!

For every organization that has committed to upgrading SharePoint 2010, there are many more organizations that still need to sustain their existing enterprise SharePoint 2007 systems. In order to keep the existing systems healthy, you will need to learn about the arts of tuning SharePoint. In this session, we will go over hardware and software architectural designs you encounter in your daily operations, optimization and tuning techniques, as well as industry best practices. This session will also include a 20-minute demo of Microsoft SharePoint tools, such as Microsoft SharePoint Administration Toolkit v3 and SharePoint Diagnostics (SPDiag).

For more details, visit the official SUGDC website.

I’d like to invite you to SharePoint Saturday DC on May 15. SharePoint Saturday DC is a FREE, community driven, 1-day event that provides education around SharePoint at all levels.

You wouldn’t want to miss this event as there will be around 89 speakers and 84 sessions that will be delivered. Touted as the biggest SharePoint event in Washington, DC right after SharePoint 2010 is launched, 800 people are expected to attend. Get to network with SharePoint experts and get a chance to win raffle prizes such as Apple iPad, Netbook, Zune HD, SharePoint books, training passes, Access to online content from Microsoft’s SharePoint Conference 2009, and many more!

So what are you waiting for? Register now http://bit.ly/spsdc3

I am extremely pleased to have been picked as one of those speakers at the upcoming SharePoint Saturday DC in the Microsoft Reston office. The presentation is titled Secret Ingredients of Successful SharePoint Project Management.

In this session we will be going over  time-proven project management techniques that will:

• Generate executive support
• Control schedules and finances
• Keep project teams aligned
• Encourage user adoption
• Lead teams to successful deployments

About SharePoint Saturday:

Join SharePoint architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft SharePoint Technologies for ‘SharePoint Saturday’, on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at the Microsoft Technology Center on Sunset Hills Road Reston, VA. SharePoint Saturday will be an educational, informative & lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals & MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint-orientated topics. SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!

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27 * Web 2 0 Expo New YorkWeb 2 0 Expo New York Web 2.0 Expo, New York, NY	28 * Web 2 0 Expo New YorkWeb 2 0 Expo New York Web 2.0 Expo, New York, NY * MS SharePoint ConnectionsMS SharePoint Connections MicroSoft SharePoint Connections, The Hague, the Netherlands	29 * Web 2 0 Expo New YorkWeb 2 0 Expo New York Web 2.0 Expo, New York, NY * MS SharePoint ConnectionsMS SharePoint Connections MicroSoft SharePoint Connections, The Hague, the Netherlands	30 * Web 2 0 Expo New YorkWeb 2 0 Expo New York Web 2.0 Expo, New York, NY

It was such a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones at SharePoint Saturday Baltimore this past weekend! I had to change my travel plans slightly and ended up getting there in the afternoon and missed all the parties!

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming out to SharePoint Saturday Baltimore on such a gorgeous weekend. It ran from early morning all the way to the early evening. The turnout was awesome. Eric Harlan and Buddy Weber, the event organizers, truly did a superb job and deserved our standing ovation!

For a late Saturday afternoon, the attendees for my session were rather animated despite Business Process Management (BPM) and workflow are both pretty heavy topics. I truly appreciated all the lively interactions and discussions. A few questions came up surrounding SharePoint & Designer 2010. Having been selected a Beta tester for SharePoint 2010, I will start writing about those topics in the coming weeks. So stay tuned to my blog for follow-up and further details.

I have posted the PowerPoint presentation here for your “enjoyment”. Please drop me an email if you have any questions. Cheers!

SharePoint Saturday Baltimore: Designer or Custom Workflows – Do I Look Fat in This?

The event is completed filled up. The turnout will be huge. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Content types are one of the most important new features of WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. Content types enable organizations to organize, manage, and handle content in a consistent way across a site collection. By defining content types for specific kinds of documents or information products, an organization can ensure that each of these groups of content is managed in a consistent way.

For more details, visit the official SUGDC website.