Infrastructure Planning and Design

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Overview

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) series provides guidance for Microsoft infrastructure products. The series is a collection of documents that leads the reader through a sequence of core decision points to design an infrastructure for Microsoft products. It also provides a means to validate design decisions with the business to ensure that the solution meets the requirements for both business and infrastructure stakeholders.

The IPD documents are designed to be used by the following IT personnel:

  • Infrastructure planners and architects who have a firm operational grasp of the technology.

  • Partners and consultants who design infrastructure solutions.

  • Business managers who want to understand how the technology decisions being made both support and affect the business.

What’s New

System Center 2012 - Data Protection Manager

This guide enables you to quickly identify what types of data to protect, what the recovery goals are, and what the protection strategy is for achieving those goals. This guide incorporates best practice guidance from the Data Protection Manager engineering team to help you create an optimized infrastructure design that meets the business requirements.

System Center 2012 - Operations Manager

This guide outlines the infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Operations Manager. It guides you through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. You’ll find easy-to-follow steps on identification and design of the required management groups, helping you to optimize the management infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Operations Manager.

System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

This guide outlines the elements that are crucial to an optimized design of Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). It leads you through the process of identifying the business and technical requirements for managing virtualization, designing integration with System Center 2012 - Operations Manager if required, and then determining the number, size, and placement of the VMM servers. It will help you to confidently plan for the centralized administration of physical and virtual machines. Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager.

Guidance

Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are key to a successful implementation of Active Directory Certificate Services. Using this guide will result in a certificate services design that is optimized to meet the needs of your organization at the lowest cost. Launch the download of the IPD guide for the Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS).

Active Directory Domain Services

This guide is intended to assist designers in the decision-making process by providing a clear and concise path for designing the Active Directory infrastructure. When used in conjunction with product documentation, the guide will help you confidently plan an Active Directory implementation. A sample job aid is included for recording the decisions made during the design process. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Active Directory Domain Services.

DirectAccess

This guide provides actionable guidance for designing a DirectAccess infrastructure. The guide’s easy-to-follow, four-step process gives a straightforward explanation of the infrastructure required for clients to be connected from the Internet to resources on the corporate network, whether or not the organization has begun deploying IPv6. Launch the download of the IPD guide for DirectAccess. 

Dynamic Datacenter

The design process in this guide allows your organization to strategically plan a Dynamic Datacenter infrastructure that is designed for ease of manageability. A key benefit of the guide is a single set of requirements that is tracked throughout the entire design process and then transferred to the appropriate supporting Infrastructure Planning and Design guides. This ensures that the assembled architectures are effectively coordinated and work together efficiently. With this guide, you can design a Dynamic Datacenter infrastructure that will allow your organization to be responsive to changing market conditions by presenting new ways to develop, deliver, deploy, and manage applications and IT infrastructures. Launch the download of the IPD guide for the Dynamic Datacenter.

Exchange Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services

This guide provides a clear comparison of e-mail technologies across on-premises, standard hosting, and dedicated hosting scenarios. Use the guide as a framework for evaluating the technical feasibility of Microsoft Exchange Online. The guide provides an overall scoring assessment for each option, identifying key mail services and requirements for your organization. It can help you understand the impact of adopting software-plus-services, weigh the importance of each topic to your organization, and learn which offering will serve you best. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Exchange Online - Evaluating Software-plus-Services.

Exchange Server 2010

This guide provides actionable guidance for designing an Exchange Server 2010 infrastructure. The step-by-step process gives a straightforward explanation of the key steps required for a successful implementation. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Exchange Server 2010.

File Services

This guide provides the basic building blocks upon which many other infrastructure services are based. Key information is provided to bring your infrastructure up to date, saving you time and money. Each phase is thoroughly explained in easy-to-follow steps, helping you efficiently navigate through the process of managing your infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for File Services.

Forefront Identity Manager 2010

This guide provides actionable guidance for designing a FIM 2010 infrastructure. Follow the step-by-step process to determine the FIM components necessary for fulfilling your organization’s identity-management needs, and design an infrastructure with the right deployment topology for meeting your performance and availability requirements. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Forefront Identity Manager 2010.

Internet Information Services

This guide provides a consistent structure for addressing the decisions and activities critical to the successful implementation of the IIS 7.5 and IIS 7.0 infrastructure. It addresses key issues such as resource, application, and hosting requirements, and helps you determine the capacity needed from the proposed hosting infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Internet Information Services.

Malware Response

This guide helps organizations plan the best and most cost-effective response to malicious software. It provides methodologies for the assessment of malware incidents and walks you through considerations and decisions that are pertinent to timely response and recovery. It also describes approaches to investigating outbreaks and cleaning infected systems. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Malware Response.

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6

This guide provides actionable guidance for planning your application virtualization infrastructure. This IPD guide now includes information on how App-V supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, including such features as BranchCache; support for 64-bit clients; and server-sizing data. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V). It guides you through the four-step process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the MED-V server instances required is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping you deliver managed virtual machines to end users. Launch the download of the IPD guide for MED-V.

Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway (Forefront UAG)

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are key to a successful implementation of Forefront Unified Access Gateway (Forefront UAG). The reader is guided through the logical three-step process of selecting the Forefront UAG features required, determining the number of instances, and designing the infrastructure. If access logging is required, the guide leads the reader through selecting and designing the most appropriate data store. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway.

Print Services

This guide provides you with key information to bring your print infrastructure up to date, saving you time and money. Strategically planning your print infrastructure can help you serve your customers more reliably. Use this guide to determine the scope of the services and choose to partially or completely redesign your infrastructure. Each phase is thoroughly explained in easy-to-follow steps, helping you to efficiently navigate through the process of managing your infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Print Services.

Selecting the Right NAP Architecture

The objective of this guide is to provide a consistent structure for addressing the decisions and activities most critical to the successful implementation of the Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Selecting the Right NAP Architecture.

Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology

The objective of this guide is to enable the reader to rapidly and accurately select which Microsoft virtualization technology or technologies to use for specific scenarios. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology.

Series Introduction – version 2.0

This guide is an updated introduction to the Infrastructure Planning and Design series, including information on the background and document structure of IPD. Launch the download of the IPD Series Introduction.

SharePoint Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services

This guide presents a clear comparison of SharePoint collaboration technologies across on-premises, standard hosting, and dedicated hosting scenarios. It is designed to be used as a framework for evaluating the business and technical feasibility of moving to Microsoft SharePoint Online. It identifies key SharePoint workloads, and provides a customized assessment to help the organization determine which offering best meets the organization’s requirements. Launch the download of the IPD guide for SharePoint Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services.

SharePoint Server 2010

This guide takes the IT architect through an easy-to-follow planning and design process to successfully create a SharePoint Server infrastructure that is appropriately placed, sized, and designed to deliver the desired business benefits, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system. It addresses the scenarios most likely to be encountered by someone designing a SharePoint Server infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for SharePoint Server 2010.

SQL Server 2008

This guide, when used in conjunction with product documentation, will help companies confidently plan the implementation of a SQL Server 2008 infrastructure. It addresses fundamental tasks to help you identify which SQL Server roles will be needed as well as to determine the infrastructure’s components, server placement, and the fault-tolerance configuration to meet necessary requirements. Launch the download of the IPD guide for SQL Server 2008.

System Center 2012 - Data Protection Manager

This guide enables you to quickly identify what types of data to protect, what the recovery goals are, and what the protection strategy is for achieving those goals. This guide incorporates best practice guidance from the Data Protection Manager engineering team to help you create an optimized infrastructure design that meets the business requirements.

System Center 2012 - Operations Manager

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team is working on a new guide: System Center 2012 - Operations Manager. This guide outlines the infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Operations Manager. It guides you through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. You’ll find easy-to-follow steps on identification and design of the required management groups, helping you to optimize the management infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Operations Manager.

System Center 2012 - Service Manager

This guide takes you through an easy-to-follow process for successfully designing the servers and components of a Service Manager implementation. The result will be a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to deliver the stated business benefits, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Service Manager.

System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

This guide outlines the elements that are crucial to an optimized design of Virtual Machine Manager. It leads you through the process of identifying the business and technical requirements for managing virtualization, designing integration with System Center 2012 - Operations Manager if required, and then determining the number, size, and placement of the VMM servers. It will help you to confidently plan for the centralized administration of physical and virtual machines. Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 and Forefront Endpoint Protection

This guide has been updated for R3 and now includes Forefront Endpoint Protection! It leads the reader through the process of planning a Configuration Manager infrastructure and optionally a Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) infrastructure. The guide has been revised to include new enhancements in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 such as enhanced scalability and performance, power management, operating system deployment improvements and more. FEP uses Configuration Manager’s capabilities to perform tasks such as deploying antimalware clients, enforcing security policies on endpoints, managing devices, and alerting administrators to events related to FEP. Launch the download of the IPD Guide for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 and Forefront Endpoint Protection.

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 with SP1

This guide leads you through the infrastructure design process in a logical, sequential order. The guide enables you to quickly identify the types of data that will be protected, what the recovery goals are, and the protection strategy to achieve those goals. Launch the download of the IPD guide for System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 with SP1.

System Center Operations Manager 2007

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of System Center Operations Manager. It guides you through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. It presents identification and design of the required management groups in easy-to-follow steps, helping you to design and optimize management infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for System Center Operations Manager 2007.

System Center Service Manager 2010

This guide provides actionable guidance for designing a Service Manager 2010 infrastructure. The guide’s easy-to-follow process gives a straightforward explanation of the key steps required for a successful implementation. Launch the download of the IPD guide for System Center Service Manager 2010.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of VMM. Its simple, easy-to-follow steps help you to centralize administration of physical and virtual machines. Launch the download of the IPD guide for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

Terminal Services

This guide leads you step by step through the process of planning a Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services infrastructure. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services.

Windows Deployment Services

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Windows Deployment Services. The six-step process in the guide should result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to enable rapid deployment of Windows operating systems. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows Deployment Services.

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios relate the IT and user business requirements for a flexible, efficient, and managed desktop environment to sets of complementary Microsoft technologies. The guide and supporting tool in this Solution Accelerator use five standard user scenarios such as Office Worker and Mobile Worker to map requirements to technologies. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services

This guide lays out the key infrastructure design elements that are integral to a successful implementation of Remote Desktop Services. The reader is guided through the nine-step process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the RD Session Host farms is presented in a simple, easy-to-follow process, helping the reader to design and plan centralized virtual data centers. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services.

Windows Server Virtualization

This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Windows Server virtualization (WSv). It's simple, easy-to-follow steps help you to design and plan virtual server data centers. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows Server Virtualization.

Windows User State Virtualization (USV)

This guide helps IT get started planning a Windows USV solution. It can be difficult for IT to find the right balance between centralized management of business-critical data and a rich user desktop experience. Follow the stepwise approach in this IPD to gather relevant user and IT requirements. Then compare and contrast the Windows USV technologies (Folder Redirection, Offline Files, and Roaming User Profiles) in light of scenarios that are relevant to your business. Also, leverage the real-world guidance based on subjective analysis of Windows USV deployments in mid to large organizations, and interviews with subject matter experts. Launch the download of the IPD guide for Windows User State Virtualization.

Downloads

Download the complete Infrastructure Planning and Design series or individual guides.

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Feedback

Send your comments or questions to mailto:ipdfdbk@microsoft.com?subject=Infrastructure%20Planning%20and%20Design%20Series.