Last year I decided to learn more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and in particular Excel Services. Instead of setting up a VMWare configuration I decided to buy a physical server to which my developing machine will be connected to as the only client.  Because of my security approach none of these two machines have access to Internet. Yes, I’m the first to admit that I’m paranoid but that is the way it is.

Hardware
I got a nice price for the server Fujitsu Siemens FSC PRIMERGY ECONEL 100 S2 and bought more memory so it now has 2 GB. The server has two hard drives and therefore I decided to use a RAID 0  solution so one drive mirror the other drive. Previously I only had a 2 port KVM Switch but now I needed a 4 port Switch so I can switch between my laptop, my development machine and the server. The model I selected was Athen CS1734B which is one of a very few KVM Switches that can work with Windows Server 2008.

Softwares
I decided to use Windows Server 2008 x64 standard edition which also gives access to the Hyper V technology. Unless we have all the knowledge required to configure and running a server and installing all the softwares we need some helps. In my case I prefer printed books and the help I got is from the book “Windows Server 2008 A Beginner’s Guide“. It covers the most basic to install and configure a Windows 2008 server and is written in a understandable way.

Next, a SQL Server 2008 Express Edition was installed and it did not cause any problems at all.

Installing a MOSS 2007 server requires one important preparation, to set up 11 accounts with names and passwords. They are required for both the Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and for the MOSS server. Andreas Glaser has published a nice installation guide; Installing MOSS 2007 on Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 . However, to understand more a book is required and I was recommended to use “Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration” written by my fellow countryman Göras Husman. At present I have only started to read the book.

Finally, the only thing that remains to do is to learn more about MOSS and what we can do with its Excel Services!

Kind regards,
Dennis

The recent financial crisis and the following ’panic stop’ in the world wide economy have also reached my part of the world.  In my opinion all the Medias have this time successfully contributed to the recession status.

The first cut down among the costs (in my wallet) is to end my MSDN subscription. For several years I have subscribed to it and the subscription has giving me a lot of new knowledge as well as the opportunity to explore new tools. During the present circumstances it’s simple too expensive. I also expect that I will be forced to reduce the costs additional within the nearest future… 

During previously recessions I have taken the time to learn new things or add knowledge to my knowledge on various subjects. This time is not an exception and I have decided to set focus on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (aka MOSS) and later on the Excel service that MOSS provides. In other words, MOSS will be on the agenda for 2009!

As for the blogging I have promised myself to post more frequently next year about Excel automation, managed COM add-ins and VSTO.

Finally, I want to wish all the readers of this blog a Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperity New Year with the below picture. It was taken by me today around 14:00 at Storsjö’s beach (about 1 km from where I live).  At the time of taking the picture the temperature was around -12 Celsius.
 

Kind regards,
Dennis