Like its predecessor, SharePoint
allows an administrator to install either a stand-alone or a server
farm configuration. Running setup.exe from the installation media presents you with the dialog shown in Figure 1, at which point you must make a choice.
Note Setup.exe
will determine if the system requires a reboot—the prerequisites
installer is not always good at ensuring a reboot and leaves this
determination to the individual packages it installs.
Stand-Alone Installation
First and most important, be sure that the
stand-alone installation is right for you. Too often, SharePoint
administrators install a stand-alone configuration of SharePoint to try
out the product and then find they have to support it in production,
because end users have quickly loaded SharePoint with working content
(documents and so on). Therefore, I do not recommend stand-alone installations, but understand that sometimes they serve a purpose.
If that scenario does not scare you away, or
does not apply, then consider the following list of limitations
specific to the stand-alone installation:
- No Domain Controller: The stand-alone installation will fail if you attempt to install it on a domain controller.
- Installation of SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express:
The installer will install a new instance of SQL Server 2008 R2 with
Service Pack 1 Express Edition, regardless of whether you have an
installation of full SQL Server on the same server. Express has a limit
of 4GB storage, causing a major headache for the IT team later when the
stand-alone install of SharePoint generates increased user adoption.
- Inability to scale: The stand-alone installation does not
allow the integration of additional WFE servers or query/index servers
to scale the farm. Essentially, a stand-alone installation tells
SharePoint that the one single server is the farm in its entirety and that the administrator is fine with not scaling out later.
- Use of Network Service and Local System accounts:
Microsoft designed the stand-alone install as a simple option, leaving
the user with few complications in setup. The decisions simplified
include those surrounding security and managed accounts (more on
managed accounts later in this chapter). The stand-alone install will
leverage the built-in Network Service and Local System accounts to
configure SharePoint services—including the SharePoint timer service.
These accounts share across the server, and service packs and other
product installs may affect the volatility of their configuration and
system-level passwords, rendering the SharePoint installation
susceptible to problems.
- Selective Services: The
stand-alone installation does not allow installation of all service
applications, such as the User Profile Synchronization Service.
After considering these facts, if you still
wish to continue with the stand-alone installation, click that option
on the dialog as in Figure 1.
From here on the install is very much hands-off and concludes with
Internet Explorer opening to Central Administration having created
default service applications, a default web application, and site
collection.
Server Farm Installation
If you are reading this far, then you have
probably decided to pass on the stand-alone install—the stand-alone
install is fine for testing and development purposes but not
recommended for scalable production uses of SharePoint. Click the
server farm installation option on the dialog (shown in Figure 1) and we shall walk through the steps.
After choosing the server farm installation option, the setup application begins installation and shows progress as in Figure 2.
After a brief break to refresh your cup of
coffee, while the installer installs SharePoint 2013 binaries, you
should see the dialog shown in Figure 3
upon your return. Leaving the check box checked and closing this dialog
will launch the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard allowing you
to configure your new SharePoint farm or join this server to an
existing farm. If you uncheck the option to run the Configuration
Wizard now (if you are installing binaries on multiple WFE servers
first), you can execute the Configuration Wizard from the SharePoint
Products group in Windows.
