Review hardware and software requirements (FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint)

Applies to: FAST Search Server 2010

Before you start the installation of FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, make sure that the system meets the hardware and software requirements as mentioned in this article.

In this article:

• Hardware requirements

• Software requirements

Hardware requirements

The following is the minimum and recommended hardware requirements to deploy FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint:

Software requirements

Install FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint on a server that has a clean installation of one of the following:

• Windows Server 2008 SP2 x64. All regular Standard/Enterprise/Datacenter versions are supported.

• Windows Server 2008 R2 x64

The server must be fully updated with the Service Pack and updates and restarted before you install FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

Do not install FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint on a server that runs a Domain Controller.

Make sure that the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint server name is not more than 15 characters long.

The Prerequisite Installer installs the required software components, including Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5 SP1.

Create users and define permissions

1. Ensure that the user who runs the installer is a member of the local Administrators group.

   Note

   The user or group must have the Allow log on locally permission. This permission is assigned by default during installation, and should not be removed.

2. Create a domain user for running FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, for example fastuser. Do not run FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint as a local administrator or a domain administrator.

3. To simplify the process of adding more search administrators, create a domain group. You will later add this group to a local group named FASTSearchAdministrators on every server in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint deployment.

   Add all users who will administer the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint installation to this group.

Verify that Windows Firewall is turned on on all servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm

Verify that all servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm have Windows Firewall turned on.

In Control Panel, under System and Security, click Check firewall status and verify that Windows Firewall state is set to On.

Make sure that IP addresses are static

Make sure that all FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint servers have static IP addresses to enable the installer to automatically configure IPsec (Internet Protocol security) in the firewall during the installation.

When you configure a multiple server deployment, you may receive an error message that states that the non-administration servers cannot connect to the administration server. For more information, see Troubleshoot communication issues between servers.

Make sure that the firewall is configured correctly

The FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint installer uses the computer's default settings for Internet Protocol security (IPsec) key exchange, data protection, and authentication.

If you do not use the default settings for IPsec, for example because of domain group policies or the computer's local policies, make sure that the custom global firewall IPsec settings provide sufficient security. Also, make sure that the global IPsec settings are the same for all servers in the deployment.

Turn off automatic Windows updating

On all servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm, turn off automatic updating in Windows Update. Plan to install updates after a controlled shutdown of FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

Disable automatic adjustment of daylight saving time (DST) and synchronize clocks between servers

Disable automatic adjustment of daylight saving time for the servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm. If DST adjustment is enabled, query timeouts may occur for a brief period around midnight on the date of DST adjustment.

Verify that the clocks on the servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm and the SharePoint Server 2010 farm are synchronized on minute level. However, the daylight saving time (DST) setting on the servers in the SharePoint Server 2010 farm may differ from the DST setting on the servers in the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farm.

Configure anti-virus configuration

We strongly recommend that you exclude the FASTSearch folder from anti-virus scanning to prevent the anti-virus software from falsely identifying FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint data files as malware. If the anti-virus software allows it, we also recommend that you exclude the following FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint processes from scanning. All files are in the FASTSearch\bin\ folder:

• cobra.exe

• contentdistributor.exe

• create_attribute_files.exe

• docexport.exe

• FASTSearch.exe

• FASTSearchExec.exe

• fdispatch.exe

• fdmworker.exe

• fixmlindex.exe

• fsearch.exe

• fsearchctrl.exe

• ifilter2html.exe

• indexer.exe

• indexingdispatcher.exe

• jsort2.exe

• make_pu_diff.exe

• MonitoringService.exe

• pdftotext.exe

• procserver.exe

• qrserver.exe

• spelltuner.exe

• truncate_anchorinfo.exe

• walinkstorerreceiver.exe

• walookupdb.exe

• webanalyzer.exe

Configure proxy settings

HTTP communication is used in multiple server FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint farms, and also between SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. This requires that HTTP communication is enabled between all servers in both SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.

As network proxy configuration typically determines how HTTP communication is routed from each server, the network proxy configuration on each server must be set correctly. You can configure the proxy server manually or by using automatic configuration.

You can review and edit the relevant LAN settings on each server by opening Internet Options as the FASTSearch user:

1. Open a Command Prompt window (Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Command Prompt).

2. At the command prompt, type the following command:

   runas /user:<domain>\<user> "cmd /c c:\windows\system32\inetcpl.cpl"
   

   Where <domain> and <user> are the FASTSearch user domain and user name.

3. Click Connections and then click LAN settings.

If you are using Automatic configuration, make sure that all servers in both FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint and SharePoint Server 2010 can be reached.

If you have manually configured a proxy server, verify that Bypass proxy servers for local addresses is selected.

Next step

When you have verified and set up the required hardware and software, follow the steps in Install Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint)

See Also

Concepts

Deployment for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint