I've been asked lately what accounts I generally use for setting up SharePoint enterprise server farms.
This is always a hot topic and everyone has their own conventions and thoughts on the matter.

First and foremost, consult the guidance available at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263445.aspx for your specific configuration.

That being said, here is what I normally do for 5-6 server setups (WFE/APP & Index/SQL):

DOMAIN\MOSSSQLSVC (SQL Service Account)
DOMAIN\MOSSSETUP (Setup Account)
DOMAIN\MOSSSRVFARM (Server Farm Account)
DOMAIN\MOSSWEBAPP0 (Generic App Pool Identity, add additional accounts as needed... )
DOMAIN\MOSSCAAPPPOOL (Central Admin App Pool)
DOMAIN\MOSSSSPAPPPOOL (SSP App Pool)
DOMAIN\MOSSSSPSVC (SSP Service Account)
DOMAIN\MOSSSRCHCA (External or special Content Access)
DOMAIN\MOSSSRCHSVC (Search Service)
DOMAIN\MOSSSRCHSVCCA (Search Service Content Access)
DOMAIN\WSSSRCHSVC (WSS Search Service)
DOMAIN\WSSSRCHSVCCA (WSS Search Service Content Access)
DOMAIN\MOSSLDAPSVC (Profile Import Account)
DOMAIN\MOSSEXCELSVC (Excel Services)

There you have it.. 14 accounts! Usually all set to some sort of enormously cryptic strong passwords I always forget.  If your not using excel services or crawling external content, you can usually thin it down 2 accounts.

The first in a series of technical guidance on SharePoint and TFS has been published to MSDN.

You can find it online now at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc948982.aspx 

Stay tuned for more!

OK, strange occurrence this evening… which started as last evening’s adventure:

Last night I updated my 80GB Zune 2.0 (I have a Special Edition Black & Stainless model I received from attending a Dynamics AX 5.0 Deep-Dive Airlift). 

I was able to download the new Vista 64-bit 3.0 software from www.zune.net, and install the new 3.0 firmware.  I was pretty pysched because it has new social and gaming features, etc. Sweet..

So I let it charge up, downloaded some new music and tv videos, and was set to bring it to work this morning. (I was hitting the Park & Ride and it would give me something to do on the bus.)  Well, my son beat me to it, and snagged the Zune on the way out to school, while I was in the shower. (Yeah, i was bummed, especially since he shouldn’t be bringing it to school!) 

I got home tonight, and found the Zune dead on the counter.  Now, I figured he drained the battery down, and I plugged it into the USB cord, but nothing.. no charging indicator, and no matter how long I held buttons, it wouldn’t light up. 

A quick Live Search sent me to a KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944126 

I followed the directions in the KB to press and hold the Back button as you press the top of the Zune pad. When the Zune device begins to turn on, release the buttons.  It started up with the Zune words and everything seems fine again.

Not sure what happened, but the battery was charged.  I suspect the batt got weak and it went to sleep, and my plugging it in recharged it while it was in sleep mode, but I could be wrong. Anyhow.. I will monitor it for the next 24 hours and see what transpires.

-E-

(This is a trackback post from Randall’s blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/randalli/archive/2008/08/28/just-published-wss-and-moss-sdk-1-4-download-and-online-msdn-library-8-29-2008.aspx  Thanks Randall!)

Hello SharePoint Developers!

We are excited to announce the availability of the latest updates to the online MSDN Library + the downloadable SDKs for both MOSS 2007 and WSS 3.0!

In our never-ending efforts to improve the customer and partner experience, we are announcing the sim ship of both the online MSDN Library and the downloadable SDK! No more confusion about what’s the latest version: August is August!

> Download the MOSS SDK 1.4 <

> Download the WSS SDK 1.4 <

The August 2008 update is version 1.4 and reflects feature enhancements that were part of the recent Infrastructure Update.  For more information on SharePoint Products and Technologies updates, you can start here on TechNet.

Which SDK do I need to download?

If you are only writing code that utilizes the Windows SharePoint Services platform, you can download the WSS SDK.  However, if you want the superset of all documentation and samples, you should install the MOSS SDK, and then you’ll get all the platform and technology information as well.  You don’t need to download both, but you will need to uninstall all previous versions.

Note The SDK 1.4 downloads are full releases that include all previous tools and documentation.

What’s New in this release?

The SDK updates in 1.4 include:

• New Federated Search Samples:

• Custom Federated Search Web Part with a Credentials UI (also available at MSDN Code Gallery)
• Federated Search SQL Server Connector (also available at MSDN Code Gallery)
• Federated Search HTML to RSS Connector (also available at MSDN Code Gallery)
• Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector (also available at MSDN Code Gallery)

· Updated documentation files, including updated, offline versions of MSDN Library Technical Articles and Developer Guides
What’s New in the MOSS SDK 1.4 Documentation
What’s New in the WSS SDK 1.4 Documentation

· Lots of new documentation for Records Management APIs.

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.Holds

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.InformationPolicy

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.PolicyFeatures

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.RecordsRepository

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.Reporting

· Microsoft.Office.RecordsManagement.SearchAndProcess

While you’re updating your SharePoint development tools…

You can also update the Visual Studio Extensions for SharePoint Services.  Here is the link to the installer: VSeWSS 1.2.  The extensions were updated on 7/1/2008 and now work with Visual Studio 2008!

Don’t forget to download the user’s guide: version 1.1

I received a sad email yesterday, as did most .NET developers.  Lutz decided finally after quite a few years and much negotiation to turn Reflector over to Red Gate.   I also like RedGate's sql tools, and I hear they have excellent customer support, but it does make you wonder how the product will evolve and extend.  

Perhaps Lutz may consider a lead role with Red Gate as well.  I for one would not have minded shelling out some cash to support Reflector and Lutz had it been asked, but I suppose the support for the tool and it's extensions can be overwhelming for a single person.   The extensions themselves are powerful, and I hope those folks contributing continue to do so.

One things for sure, Lutz will always be welcome at my doorstep.
He certainly is one of the most talented .NET folks out there in the wild today. 

:)

After more than eight years of working on .NET Reflector, I have decided it is time to move on and explore some new opportunities.

I have reached an agreement to have Red Gate Software continue the development of .NET Reflector. Red Gate has a lot of experience creating development tools for both .NET and SQL Server. They have the resources necessary to work on new features, and Reflector fits nicely with other .NET tools the company offers.

Red Gate will continue to provide the free community version and is looking for your feedback and ideas for future versions.

For news and updates on Reflector, sign up for the .NET Developer’s Newsletter from Red Gate. To find out more about the agreement, see the interview on Simple Talk.

SharePoint Hyper-v/SVVP support preliminary guidance is now live, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816955.aspx.  Product Team Blog has also been posted, http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/08/18/update-on-virtualization-support-for-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.aspx

Enjoy!

This has been the recurring theme for many new MCS staff.. Why would enterprise customers want to pay large hourly rates and travel expenses for us to come on-site?

I finally realized it's not just our in-depth technical expertise and top-notch consulting skills (oh, and we write unbelievably great quality code too..) but it's what some of our customer's employees look like when they have hit a "dead-end".  It must be the effect of doing too many Google searches seeking technical information that doesn’t help them anyhow.

To see what I mean, I snapped a picture at a recent customer visit, of just one such "skilled information worker" (Sorry all you IW folks, no offense):

So, as you can see, they undoubtedly fare better with our skin in the game!

-E-

Hmmm.. somehow there's nothing that seems as poetic as blowing by a few Troopers and that guy who just passed you on the right a mile back at a cool 210. :)

But then again.. I like freedom. ;)

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YouTube - World's Fastest Car...Bugatti Veyron
  

OK, It's true, I'm a dinosaur.  Go ahead, blow the dust off of me.

Recently I had the formidable task of interviewing peer developers (er.. let me rephrase that to "highly remunerated software engineers) for employment opportunities, directly related to proficiency within C#.  Now, I know it has taken me years to get "up to speed" and I still feel I myself have a long way to go, but I'm amazed how many "impressive resume holders" I get to interview don't have the basics down pat.. this could be simple topics like object initialization/finalization, composition/inheritance, and class design to the more rigorous and fun stuff like multithreading, generics, anonymous functions and canonical forms of C#. 

But now let's bring that "2008".   Every year our beloved .NET teams bring us framework and language enhancements that are truly, well, for lack of a better term, enhancements.  So why is it when I ask basic questions, I get blank stares? ((Hmm, did I finally learn Mandarin?))

Now, I know what some of you are thinking..  what are these "basic questions"? Let me share a few (and help some of you get employed as software engineers).

What's LINQ?
What is an extension method, and how can you use it?
What is a Lambda expression?
How have object and collection initializers changed in the latest .NET incarnations?
What is Hyper-V?

Mind you I am not looking for dissertations and white papers in response.. but I do look for at least some resemblance of "a clue" to what these question topics reference.

Now, if you're serious, I'm going to point you to some resources to make yourself "Great in 2008":

What's LINQ?
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa904594.aspx 
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/04/21/new-orcas-language-feature-query-syntax.aspx

What is an extension method, and how can you use it?
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/03/13/new-orcas-language-feature-extension-methods.aspx
ExtensionMethods - flavorful syntactic sugar (This one goes with my alternate 'trick question'.. Can a null object return a method in C#?)

What is a Lambda expression?
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/04/08/new-orcas-language-feature-lambda-expressions.aspx

How have object and collection initializers changed in the latest .NET incarnations?
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/03/08/new-c-orcas-language-features-automatic-properties-object-initializers-and-collection-initializers.aspx

What is Hyper-V?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-faq.aspx

While you're at it, read some more of Scott Gu's Blog, leaf through the latest 3 issues of MSDN Magazine, and find out what PerformancePoint, SkyDrive, and ForeFront are. (You can even download free trials.)   You'll be a better feeling person after all the Kool-Aid. 

Extra Credit Question:
 
What is RoundTable?
(Answer: no, this is not where the Knights sit anymore, although we like to think so. )
Find out here: http://www.microsoft.com/uc/products/roundtable.mspx

Disclaimer
The information in this weblog is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. This weblog does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my employer. It is solely my opinion. Inappropriate comments will be deleted at the authors discretion. All code samples are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

This totally rocks!  Thanks!

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Team Foundation Server 2005 Widget List

I recently found the Snipping Tool in my Windows Ultimate. Pardon me for being a late-blooming Dork, but I always seem to CTRL+PrintScreen my desktop, then have to crop the heck out of it with the Picture Tools in Word/Outlook 2007. Pain in the rump for doing quick screen captures quickly. And usually when I want to annotate something quick, I have to fire up PaintShopPro, Paint, or SnagIt. "Kappoy gyud kaayo." (That's pretty tiring.) 

The Snipping Tool can even save the URI below the snip when grabbing a web page. Excellent. Try it out by going to your Start menu and start typing Snipp.. it should pop right up for you to select.  Since I run dual-monitors (like most of the free-world coders out here), this saves a ton of clipboard memory too.

Speaking of which, I noticed those two new boxes on all my desktop windows. The first spans the window across both screens, and the second quickly toggles the window to the "other" screen. (And I have been minimizing, dragging, dropping and maximizing.. shame on me..)

I should know better, having seen some fo the multi-monitor stuff some researchers are working upon that will be the next best thing to sliced Tasty Bread and a Caramel Macchiatto. :)

Keep it real!