While Windows Server and SQL Server are left out of many SharePoint 2010 Licensing discussions, they are vitally important when determining overall cost for any SharePoint 2010 initiative.  You cannot run SharePoint 2010 without Windows Server.  You cannot run SharePoint 2010 without SQL Server.  It is that simple.

Windows Server.  Let’s start with Windows.  Why?  SharePoint 2010 will only run on Windows (sorry Ubuntu fans).  Since all versions of SharePoint 2010 are 64-bit, you need a 64-bit version of Windows Server for every server – including your SQL Server(s).  SharePoint 2010 will only run on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (and presumably later versions).  SharePoint 2010 is supported on Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web Server editions.  If you recall from SharePoint 2010 Licensing Part I, we simplified the conversation by dividing users into two groups: internal (staff) and external (everyone that isn’t staff, including public).  Licensing for Windows Server 2008 follows the same basic principles – if you are licensing for internal users, Windows follows a client/server CAL model.  Microsoft has details about the CAL model on the Server 2008 Licensing Client Access License page.  Note that you don’t need CALs for up to 2 admins and you don’t need CALs if you are using the Web Server license.

If you are licensing for external users then you must purchase a Windows 2008 Server External Connector license.   Microsoft provides a detailed explanation of the External Connector license on their 2008 Licensing External Connector Licensing Overview page.  What most people overlook is that if you are running SQL Server to support your SharePoint 2010 environment, you must also purchase Windows 2008 Server External Connector licenses for your SQL Servers as well.  Microsoft explicitly states that External Connector licenses should be acquired for each Windows server that the external user is accessing (not just for the server to which they are authenticating).

Regardless of the version of SharePoint 2010 that you are running, you must have Windows licensed appropriately.  Your internal users will have CALs (user or device) and external users will have External Connector licensed access.  Using either of these models will properly license all users to leverage SharePoint Foundation 2010 – no other licenses are needed (if using SQL Server 2008 Express)!

For the complete story regarding Windows Server 2008 licensing, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/how-to-buy.aspx. 

SQL Server.  As with Windows, you must be running SQL Server 64-bit to support SharePoint 2010.  What most people don’t realize is that you can actually run any of a variety of different of SQL Server versions:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 64-bit with Service Pack 3
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 64-bit
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 64-bit
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express (only supported in stand alone server configuration).

From a licensing perspective, I feel that SQL Server is the most flexible of all of the Microsoft software discussed in this series.  SQL Server has two main licensing models: client/server (CAL) and Processor Licensing.  The flexibility I mentioned earlier lies with the fact that SQL Server licensing allows you to choose either licensing model for either internal or external use.  If your organization is of sufficient size that the Processor Licensing is less expensive to run internally, you can choose to run Processor Licensing internally (though if you have many SQL Servers you may find this model quite expensive).  On the flip side, if your external audience (authenticated users) is a small enough group, you can simply purchase enough SQL Server CALs to cover all users that will be authenticating into SharePoint 2010.  If you are running a public (anonymous) site that does not require authentication, then you must utilize SQL Server Processor Licenses.  SQL Server Processor Licenses are defined per physical processor – not per processor core.  Additionally, passive failover support servers do not require licenses as long as these servers have the same number or less than the number of processors as the active nodes.

I’ve heard a lot of folks try to get out of multiple SQL Server CAL licenses by insisting that users never connect directly to SQL Server because they connect through SharePoint.  Microsoft explicitly defines these types of applications as multiplexing architectures and further explicitly require appropriate licensing for all users (or devices) that connect through any pooling, transaction, or multiplexing device, application, or appliance.

Of course, SQL Server 2008 Express is absolutely free, though it scaled for simpler applications.  A real SQL DBA would never even consider launching any production application on SQL Server 2008 Express, yet I have launched SharePoint sites on Express – though appropriately sized and utilized.   Quote directly from Microsoft’s SQL Server Licensing Overview: SQL Server 2008 Express edition is the fastest way for developers and enthusiasts to learn, build, and deploy simple data driven applications. It’s available as a free download at www.microsoft.com/downloads. Please visit the SQL Server 2008 Editions pages for more information.

For more information regarding SQL Server licensing, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/how-to-buy.aspx.

As with all posts in this series, please consult your Microsoft Licensing Specialist and/or your software reseller.

This is Part II in a series on SharePoint 2010 Licensing.  Please view the entire series:
SharePoint 2010 Licensing Part I: http://stovereffect.com/2010/06/29/sharepoint-2010-licensing-part-i-the-basics/

SharePoint 2010 is more powerful and easier to use than ever before, but how do you license SharePoint 2010?  SharePoint can be hosted on premise (meaning you can host it yourself), hosted in a managed environment (like a Rackspace or FPWeb), or hosted directly with Microsoft with SharePoint Online.  Regardless of where or how you choose to host your SharePoint environment, the licensing and product information is consistent.  Details regarding SharePoint 2010 prerequisites and SharePoint 2010 system requirements are crystal clear.  SharePoint 2010 is 64-bit only, requires 64-bit Windows 2008 Server, and requires a few other components before installation can begin.  Unlike prerequisites and installation details, SharePoint 2010 licensing is still a mystery for many people.  In this first post, I’ll breakdown different licensing and product questions to help clarify SharePoint 2010 licensing.

Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010.  SharePoint Designer 2010 (SPD) is a client tool (similar to Dreamweaver, Homesite, etc.) that is specifically designed to manage SharePoint 2010 sites.  SPD is used to manage lists, libraries, workflow, CSS files, Master Pages, Page Layouts, External Content Types, External Data Sources, and much more.  SPD is free and can be downloaded directly from Microsoft.  Download either SharePoint Designer 2010 32-bit or SharePoint Designer 2010 64-bit.

Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010.  SharePoint Foundation 2010 is the next logical version of what used to be called Windows SharePoint Services (WSS).  Had Microsoft continued with the previous naming convention, then this product would have presumably been called WSS 4.0.   SharePoint Foundation 2010 is a free addition for Windows 2008 Server.  This is an important note:  SharePoint Foundation 2010 is free.  Windows 2008 Server is not free.  You must have appropriate licensing for Windows 2008 Server to run SharePoint Foundation 2010.  That said, you can utilize Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 to run many different types of sites: internal sites, external sites, departmental sites, and even public facing anonymous sites.  To be perfectly clear – you can run an anonymous site on SharePoint Foundation 2010 – you just need to have the appropriate Windows 2008 Server licenses.  Access the SharePoint Foundation 2010 download directly at Microsoft.com.

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. As with Foundation, Microsoft changed the name of this product as well.  The previous version was called Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.  The latest version is called Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.  Notice the omission of the word “Office” from the SharePoint product title.  From what I gather, dropping the word “Office” was to try and help clarify that Office is not a requirement to run SharePoint.  While SharePoint works spectacularly with Office, there are hundreds of solution types that can be deployed with SharePoint without any type of Office client deployed.

There are two distinct license models for SharePoint Server 2010, one for internal deployments and one for external SharePoint deployments.  Internal and external deployments are not defined by how the systems are accessed, but rather by “who” accesses the SharePoint environments.  If the SharePoint farm is being accessed by organization staff only, then we will define that as internal use.  These internal SharePoint environments require a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 server license with the appropriate SharePoint 2010 Client Access Licenses (CAL).  If the SharePoint farm is being accessed by “non-staff”, including anonymous users such as a public facing website, then we will define that SharePoint environment as external.  External SharePoint deployments require the SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites licensing.  Both of these license models offer a Standard edition and an Enterprise edition. 

For a very good comparison of what comes in SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 Standard, and SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise, see Microsoft’s own Compare SharePoint Versions page and SharePoint Licensing Details page.

First, the “internal” license model.  SharePoint Server 2010 is licensed in a traditional client/server model.  The SharePoint Server 2010 server license is required for every server in the SharePoint farm.  If you have a single server farm or a multi-server farm, each server (physical or virtual) must have the SharePoint Server 2010 server license.  The client consists of the SharePoint 2010 CAL.  You can purchase either user or device SharePoint 2010 CALs.  User CALs are the most common, as it authenticates each named user from any device they choose to use (mobile, laptop, desktop, etc.).  I see the device CAL more commonly at locations with fixed workstations, such as libraries, school labs, and hospitals.  The device CAL allows any  number of users to authenticate, but only from the licensed devices. 

There are two SharePoint Server 2010 CALs – Standard and Enterprise.  The SharePoint Server 2010 CALs are additive.  This means that in order to get the Enterprise features, you must purchase both the Standard CAL and the Enterprise CAL.  In an organization where you have users that will access Standard features and a subset of users that will utilize the Enterprise CAL, you can purchase only the Enterprise CALs for those specific users.  It is up to you to police the environment to ensure that Enterprise features are not being accessed by Standard licensed users.  SharePoint 2010 does provide usage tracking so you can see who is using which areas and features of the site(s).

Then there is the “external” license model which consists of both Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Standard and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Enterprise.  As described above, these 2 licenses are for “non-staff” sites, such as public facing, external, anonymous sites.  For the most part, the Standard and Enterprise licensing models for Internet follow the same functionality rules as the internal client/server CAL model – with the addition that Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Standard will only support a single top level domain and related subdomains (such as StoverEffect.com, MySites.StoverEffect.com, Blog.StoverEffect.com, etc.).

Here are some other notes regarding SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites.  No CALs are required for users licensed through SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites.  The Internet Sites licensing model is for external users only. Internal users can use this license only if all content, information, and applications are also accessible to external users. If the server has items that are for internal use only, those users require CALs, and their servers require licenses for SharePoint Server 2010.  This means that you can mix licensing models on the same instance of SharePoint – but you have to purchase both sets of licenses.  An important point us that the people who create content for external access can use SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites. Server and CAL licensing is not required for people who use SharePoint only to author information – it is specifically only required if you create a site, subsite, application, or information that is FOR internal use.  One final note: SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise, also includes the rights to FAST Search Server for use in Internet or Extranet scenarios.

To complete the product download links, you can download trial versions of all of these versions of Microsoft SharePoint:

SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise Trial
SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Standard Trial
Microsoft SharePoint Server Standard 2010 Trial
Microsoft SharePoint Server Enterprise 2010 Trial

Even easier, you can download a fully configured evaluation Virtual Machine called the 2010 Information Worker Demonstration and Evaluation Virtual Machine (RTM).

That’s it for now.  I’ll continue this series on SharePoint 2010 products and licensing soon to include scenarios, FAQs, and other products (such as FAST, Office Web Applications, Project Server, etc.).  Please feel free to ask questions as I’ll help in any way that I can.  However, I do not work for Microsoft.  I am not a software reseller.  I highly recommend that you discuss all of your licensing needs with a Micorosft Licensing Specialist or your software reseller/vendor, but keep these posts handy because I have found that most resellers are quite unclear about actual licensing details and will usually err on the side of selling you more software than necessary.

Ubuntu may be difficult to pronounce, but it can breathe new life into your old computer.  I used to spend time and money buying upgrades for laptops and adding faster hard drives and adding more RAM, but I’m convinced that laptops are built to be disposable now.  Sure, they may be built to last a few years, but at the speed that software demands increase, hardware can hardly keep up.  Purchasing a new computer every 18 – 30 months is really not necessary either (though new netbooks and laptops can be found for under $300).   If you talk to my wife, she’ll say I still buy new equipment too frequently.  She’s correct.  I am making an effort to repurpose the older equipment without any monetary investment as well (especially for her and the kids!).

I have a couple of older laptops (5-7 years old) that were running extremely slow.  I also have three children that all want to use a computer at the exact same time.  I installed Ubuntu on the old laptops and could not be happier with the results.  The laptops boot up fast and are very fast to use – without ANY monetary investment.  In fact, I have one computer that the hard drive doesn’t work at all.  It won’t boot at all, and all of my attempts to fix it have failed.  I configured a USB thumb drive with Ubuntu and the computer now boots from the thumb drive and is as fast as ever. 

This is what YouTube.com looks like on Ubuntu:

This is what Google.com looks like on Ubuntu:
 

Notice that Firefox is the default browser installed with Ubuntu.  Also note that the start bar is at the top of the screen and not the bottom.  Once you get used to these two facts, learning to use Ubuntu for any computer user should take about 3 minutes – without instruction.  You’ll be able to just click on the browser and start surfing the web just like you do today.

What does the word Ubuntu mean?
It is named after the Southern African ethical principle Ubuntu ("humanity towards others").  Ubuntu provides an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease of installation.

How do you install Ubuntu?
I am quite confident that anyone reading this post can install Ubuntu.  Particularly if you are running some version of Windows.  There is an Ubuntu installer that runs within Windows.  The Windows installer will actually let you install Ubuntu, test the software out, decide each time whether you want to run Windows or Ubuntu, and then even choose to remove Ubuntu from your computer if you decide you don’t like it.  If you are running Windows, just go get the Ubuntu Windows Installer from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/windows-installer

Will Ubuntu work with my computer?
I’ve installed Ubuntu on laptops made by Dell, Sony, and HP.  I’ve never yet had to go download a driver or try to get some piece of hardware to work.  Video, sound, wireless networking, microphone, and touchpad/mouse worked perfect with a vanilla install.  Installing Ubuntu was very easy every time.

What can I do with Ubuntu?
You can surf the web, update Facebook, check email, send email, use Google, use YouTube – pretty much anything on the web.  You can play games (a few come preinstalled).  You can use a word processor, spreadsheet editor, and more since OpenOffice will be pre-installed.   This will let you open and save Microsoft Office document files as well.  You can hook up and use your printer.  You can watch movies on DVD, you can listen to your music files, you can manage and edit your photos and videos.  You can do all of this very easily and immediately after restarting into Ubuntu.

What can’t I do with Ubuntu?
You can’t watch Netflix streaming directly on Ubuntu.  Sure, you can still manage your queue and account, but you can’t watch the movies on the laptop.  If you have an iPad, Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, Samsung TV, or Blu-ray player – you can just access your Netflix queue directly from the device – so it really shouldn’t be a deal breaker.  You also can’t install Windows software on Ubuntu.  If you purchased Windows software, such as games or applications, it will not work within Ubuntu.

How much does Ubuntu cost?
Ubuntu is FREE.  It doesn’t cost anything.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  You can purchase support if you want, but you can also just post messages to ubuntu.com and get free answers.  You can also ask me.

Is Ubuntu for me?
Maybe.  If you have Windows on your desktop or laptop now, you can use the windows installer and just test it.  When you turn your computer on, you will be prompted to choose Windows or Ubuntu.  Choose Ubuntu and try it.  Use it for a day or use it forever.  The next time you turn on your computer you will be prompted again to choose Windows or Ubuntu.  You never have to change anything else on your laptop to keep using Ubuntu.  Using the Windows Installer also provides a risk free option so you won’t lose any of your music, photos, videos, files, or anything else to try it out.

BTW, this is SharePoint on Ubuntu.  Perfect!

Good luck!  Let me know your thoughts…

Technology can be defined as the knowledge and usage of tools, techniques, and crafts. I am not a PC, and I am not a Mac.  I am a human that uses technology.  I may not resemble the average technologist.  I use PC, I use Mac, I use mobile.  What I do share with other technologists (and most males), is that I love tools.  I especially love finding new tools that let me work and play more effectively and more efficiently.  This list of seven free software tools work on both major operating system platforms (and many others).  I have many other tools that are specific to a platform that I would recommend, but the tools I selected for this list had to meet three conditions: work on PC/Mac/iPad, be a tool I use everyday, and be FREE.

1. Kindle.  Not the physical device, the Kindle Apps.  While there is no order to this list, the Kindle App is first and foremost.  You may or may not know, but I have been using a Kindle for quite a while.  I still love everything about it – wireless access to new books, lightweight, simple, easy to understand, easy to use, easy on the eyes.  The eyes have it – the Kindle 2 device is one my all time favorites.  However, since acquiring my iPad, I leave my Kindle at home.  I use the Kindle app everywhere – on my Windows laptop, MacBook, iPhone, Blackberry, and my iPad.  I’m never far away from an extensive and varied library of books that I can read at any time.  I can also switch from nonfiction, technical manuals over to fiction at the press of a button if I need a change of pace.  Also, for those of you who aren’t aware – there are thousands of FREE books that you can read on your Kindle applications.

   

2. Evernote.  My favorite note organizer.  I have been a huge fan of Microsoft OneNote for years.  I’ve gotten other people hooked on OneNote.  OneNote does many wonderful things – screen caps, notes, organization, audio recording, video recording, synchronization of notes with audio/video, note sharing, searching, OCR…  the list goes on and on.  Evernote does not have the full functionality of OneNote.  However, what Evernote is missing in functionality, it makes up for in ease of use and convenience.  Evernote stores all of my notes ‘in the cloud’.  Evernote is available on my PC, my MacBookPro, my iPhone, and my iPad.  If I jot down a note, or take a screen capture, it is available to me from anywhere.  I don’t have to have my PC with me – I can access all of my notes from my phone.  Priceless.

   

3. DropBox.  Very similar to Evernote – but with files.  It’s my personal external hard drive in the sky.  I can upload files, read files, share files, and keep private files.  Word docs, Excel files, text files, photos, videos, zip files, PDFs, and more.  It’s my file backup location.  I can access and upload from any device – PC, Mac, or iPad.  Also, if you sign up for DropBox using my recommendation – then we both will get additional free space: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTc5MTE3Njc5 
4. Google Voice.  One number to rule them all.  Google Voice lets you pick a new phone number, and uses that one number to dial out to your other numbers.  People don’t have to chase me down – dial my Voice number and it rings through to my office desk, my cell phone, and my home phone – on my terms.  Google Voice allows you to screen your calls or send them to voicemail, block calls, provide personalized calling, and make conference calls – all for free.  Google Voice also does voicemail transcription – it will text or email you a text version of the voicemail someone just left you.  Awesome.

    

5. Google Picasa.  Everyone I know has a digital camera and takes hundreds of photos.  Only the amateur photographers I know have full control of their photos.  Most people have directories scattered all over the computer (or multiple computers), share photos via email and Facebook, and couldn’t find a specific photo on demand.  Picasa is a great, free tool to manage your photos.  The Facial Recognition features are very neat as well.  You can also post your photos and libraries for FREE to Picasa Web Albums (though I prefer Flickr).
6. Google Reader.  I use RSS feeds to keep tabs on all of the sites I frequent.  News sites, blogs, photo sites, and many others have RSS feeds that I can quickly and easily subscribe to on my Google Reader.  The web address for Google Reader is always available for me to catch up, review, and read any of the feeds I want.  There are also a ton of tools available for platform specific reader that will synchronize with Google Reader to provide a better end user experience depending upon the device I’m using at the time.
7. Google Toolbar.  The number one reason I use Google Toolbar is to keep my Bookmarks (or Favorites) synchronized and available to me from anywhere on any platform, but I also use the AutoFill and Custom Buttons to have simple access to weather, Facebook, maps, and more.

   

What resources and tools do you find indispensable?  I am shocked at my own reliance on Google tools.  I am a HUGE Microsoft fan – especially of SharePoint 2010.  I use Microsoft tools everyday.  Unfortunately, none of the Microsoft tools fit the original three requirements that I’ve laid out here.   I also didn’t include email, I really consider that a commodity.  You can get email from anywhere, and they all do the same basic functions.  If I did include web based mail, I would have listed Hotmail.  The new Hotmail version is superb – excellent features and great UI.  Also, I can use my Microsoft SkyDrive instead of DropBox, and I can use my Live Toolbar instead of the Google Toolbar.  However, third-party app providers (particularly on the iPad) have adopted DropBox directly into their apps – SkyDrive does not have the industry adoption (though it integrates perfectly into Office).

When configuring a new SharePoint 2010 server using Active Directory authentication, I was setting up the AD Synchronization and received the error “MOSS MA not found”.  This was a simple fix: The Forefront Identity Manager Service was not started.  Started up this service and then was able to configure a new AD synchronization connection.

To create the connection, just go to SharePoint 2010 Central Admin > Application Management > Service Applications > Manage Service Applications > Manage User Profile Store (note that your link will reference the actual name of your Profile Store Service Application).

Under Synchronization, select Configure Synchronization Connections.  If you need a new connection, select Create New Connection or you can edit an existing connection.

I am impressed with the number of connection types that SharePoint supports out of the box: Active Directory, Active Directory Logon Data, Active Directory Resource, Business Data Connectivity, IBM Tivoli Directory Server (ITDS), Novell eDirectory, and Sun Java System Directory Server. 

And, of course, the three primary Authentication Provider types: Windows Authentication, Forms Authentication, and the new Trusted Claims Provider Authentication.

For an AD authentication, I am a huge fan of being able to utilize specific containers for synchronization.  In my demo environment, I’ve created a couple of AD Organizational Units that I’m using for synchronization testing.

In this entire configuration scenario, I find a one item specifically interesting (and humorous) – the error message: MOSS MA not found.  I know that there was a tremendous code base that needed updated, but an error message string still has ‘MOSS’?  The SharePoint 2010 product no longer has the acronym MOSS.  It’s just interesting that there wasn’t a task to do a code search for this Acronym for the new build.  Maybe someone at Microsoft could shed some insight on this.  Just makes me wonder what else will be uncovered.