Part 4 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – System Setup

ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES
Part 1 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview - A First Look
Part 2 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Central Administration
Part 3 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Initial Farm Configuration, Default Web Application and Site Collection
Part 4 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – System Setup
Part 5 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Application Management

OVERVIEW
In Part 3 of the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013, we talked about initial farm configuration wizard using the Farm Configuration Wizard. In this article, we are going to look at various system settings options and we will see what has changed.  

SYSTEM SETTINGS
System settings allows you to manage various settings in the farm. From the SharePoint Foundation 2013 Central Administration site, select “System Settings”. This will display you the system settings page which has three sections: Servers, E-mail and Text Messages (SMS), and Farm Management.

SERVERS
The servers settings have two options:

1. Manage servers in this farm: This option allows you to manage servers in your farm. Options in this section remains the identical to SharePoint 2010. When you select this option, you will see the “Serves in Farm” screen which lists information about configuration database and servers that are member of the farm. Servers to the farm are added and removed through SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard. If you want to remove a server from the farm if it has not been removed by SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, you can remove it from this page by selecting “Remove Server” option. If you select the server name , you will be taken to the “Service on the Server” page
   
   
2. Manage services on the server: This option allows you to manage services on the server. You can select services that you want to run on a server. If you have multiple servers in the farm, you can select a specific server by selecting the “Server” option. If you want to list all of the services including services that are not configurable, you can select “All” from the “View” option. 
   
   The services that are included in SharePoint 2013 Foundation, includes the following. If you don’t see an action associated with the service, it means that it is not configurable.
   • App Management Service
   • Application Discovery and Load Balancer Service
   • Business Data Connectivity Service
   • Central Administration
   • Claims to Windows Token Service
   • Distributed Cache
   • Lotus Notes Connector
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Administration [Not Configurable] 
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Database
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Incoming E-Mail 
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Sandboxed Code Service 
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Subscription Settings Service 
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Timer [Not Configurable]
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application 
   • Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Workflow Timer Service 
   • Request Management 
   • Search Administration Web Service  Stopped  
   • Search Host Controller Service 
   • Search Query and Site Settings Service 
   • Secure Store Service 
   • SharePoint Server Search 

EMAIL AND TEXT MESSAGES (SMS)
This option allows you to configure outgoing email settings, incoming e-mail settings, and text message settings.

1. Configure outgoing e-mail settings: If you will be configuring features such as alerts in your SharePoint server, you will need to configure settings on the Outgoing E-Mail Settings page. Nothing much changed on this page. You can add SMTP server to your SharePoint server by following this article:
   URL: http://www.naumanahmed.com/#!/2012/07/how-to-install-smtp-server-on-windows.html 
   Once you have configured SMTP, you can specify information about it by going to Outgoing E-Mail Settings page.
   
2. Configure Incoming E-mail Settings: Use this page to e-mail enable your SharePoint server so that the SharePoint sites can receive e-mail and store incoming message in lists. This feature requires an additional configuration on MS Exchange server which is discussed in detail at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262947.aspx.
   
3. Configure Mobile Account: If you have subscription to a Text Message or (SMS) service, you can configure your SharePoint environment to send alerts and using SMS. This page is similar to SharePoint 2010. You can find more about SMS providers at http://sharepoint:27000/_admin/globalxmsconfig.aspx.
   
   

FARM MANAGEMENT
The Farm Management has the following options. When compared options in this section to SharePoint 2010, it remains the same.

1. Configure alternate access mappings: This option allows you to configure alternate URLs for your SharePoint web application. The number of zones to configure alternate URLs remain the same as in SharePoint 2010, I guess it will never change because practically speaking you can’t have more than five zones per web application :-).
   
   Options on this page includes:
   • Edit Public URLs
   • Add Internal URLs
   • Map to External Resource
     
2. Manage Farm Features: This option allows you to manage features that are installed in the farm. This page stays identical to SharePoint 2010.
   
3. Manage Farm Solutions: This option allows you to manage solutions in  the farm. Again, no change when compared to SharePoint 2010.
   
4. Manage User Solutions: This page allows you to manage sandbox solutions in the farm. No change when compared to SharePoint 2010.
   
5. Configure Privacy Options: This page allows to manage privacy options when it comes to SharePoint automatic communication with Microsoft. No change when compared to SharePoint 2010.
   
6. Configure Cross Firewall Access Zone: This page allows you to manage cross firewall access zone for a web application. No change when compared to SharePoint 2010.