Get up and running with Site Server 3.0.

A Course on Site Server

Get up and running with Site Server 3.0.

• By Michael Shea
• 11/01/1998

To get up and running with Site Server 3.0, on efficient method to learn the technology is to attend a class at a local Authorized Technical Education Center (ATEC). The three official classes available include:

• 1231—Implementing a Commerce-Enabled Web Site Using Microsoft Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition
• 1125—Implementing Microsoft Site Server 3.0
• 1077—Installing and Configuring Microsoft Site Server 3.0

In this brief article, I'll discuss Course 1125, which is intended for people doing Internet- and intranet-related work, including designers, Web administrators, and project managers. This course will enable you to understand the functions of the product, how it enhances Web sites, and how it makes administration and analysis easier and more cost effective.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have a basic understanding of Web site design, know how to administer Internet Information Server 4.0, and understand Windows NT Server 4.0 administration.

What You Won't Learn

The course discusses Site Server, Commerce Edition, and Ad Server (a component of the Commerce Edition) in only one of 14 modules. Although you'll gain an understanding of Commerce Edition, you won't work with it in this class.

You also won't get much coverage of how Site Server interacts with different databases. The classroom setup uses an Access 97 database, which is the default database used when installing Site Server.

What You Will Learn

This four-day cousr covers the four primary components of Site Server: Publishing, Searching, Deployment, and Analysis. Because the product is so extensible, the class must cover quite a bit of material in that time, which means students get in-depth knowledge of many important features and superficial treatment of others.

My students enjoyed learning the product, because they see its potential. On the other hand, it's a tough product to teach or take because of the many new concepts, vocabulary, and components.

The main component of Site Server that the students had trouble understanding was the Membership Directory—how it tied into the other components of the product and how to implement authentication, personalization, and a site vocabulary. Likewise, administering the Membership Directory was confusing. We spent a day workting with this component, since it's so crucial to understanding many of the other functions of Site Server.

Other components of Site Server 3.0, such as Search, Deployment, and Analysis, are laid out fairly early in the course.

My view: Time in class is well spent. Students go back to their companies and implement a Web solution that transforms their Web team from facilitators into administrators; provides their company with a gateway to most of the information within their organization; and changes the why people look at the Web technology they're implementing.

What about Exams?

Microsoft offers two Site Server exams: 70-056, Implementing and Supporting Web Sites Using Microsoft Site Server 3.0, and 70-057, Designing and Implementing Commerce Solutions with Microsoft Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition.