Setting Up the Development Environment for Business Connectivity Services

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Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

You can create solutions by using Microsoft Business Connectivity Services (BCS) on a client computer or server computer, depending on the type of solution you are building.

For server-based solutions, it is usually best to develop the solution on a local computer where Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 is installed. Development environments can be installed on either a host workstation or on one or more virtual computers running Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2. Additionally, SharePoint Server or SharePoint Foundation can be installed on a client computer running the Windows Vista operating system or Windows 7 operating system. In all cases, you should use a computer with an x64-capable CPU and at least 2 gigabytes (GB) and preferably 4 GB of RAM for SharePoint Foundation and 6 to 8 GB of RAM for SharePoint Server.

Important

SharePoint Foundation 2010 does not offer rich client extensions. To show external data to Microsoft Office clients, you must use Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.

Also, if you are using SharePoint Foundation 2010, you must create a Feature Event Receiver to enable the import of BDC models. How to create a Feature Event Receiver will be covered soon. Alternatively, you can use Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for development as it will deploy BDC models to the Metadata Store from Visual Studio without the need for additional code.

For solutions targeting the client or using Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010, you can use a client computer with Microsoft Office 2010 installed.