A few ISA Server updates

First, ISA Server 2006 SP1 has been released. Get it here.

Second, the Forefront TMG (ISA Server) Product Team Blog has a great post explaining how to troubleshoot issues with SharePoint sites published through ISA Server. Button line: make sure you use AAM correctly.

SharePoint Databases – when are they created?

A SharePoint installation contains a lot of different databases, but what are they used for and when are they created?

MOSS software installation phase:

• No databases are created

Using the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard to create a farm:

• SharePoint_AdminContent_<some GUID>
• SharePoint_Config

Assigning services to servers:

• WSS_Search_MOSS (created by Windows SharePoint Services Search)

Creating the Shared Service Provider

• WSS_Content_SSPADMIN (created by the SSP Admin Web Application)
• WSS_Content_MySite (created by the MySite Web Application)
• SharedServices1_DB (created by the New Shared Services Provider process)
• SharedServices1_Search_DB (created by the New Shared Services Provider process)

Creating a Web Application:

• WSS_Content_TestWebApp

That’s it. Seven databases for the standard farm and at least one database per web application.