This section summarizes the planning tasks that you should consider when choosing any of the Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) deployment options described earlier. To assist your planning process, the sections that follow this one present references and details of the deployment scenarios.

• Network infrastructure, including topology, architecture; server placement, server roles, and so on.
  
  • For more information see:
    
    • Deployment Walkthrough for an overall view of the network architecture of your Microsoft hosting solution.
      
    • Centralized Management Base Environment in Centralized Management for additional information about network infrastructure.
      
    • Firewall Configuration for listings of ports that must be opened to enable communication among the various provisioning system components.
      
• MPS security - See Microsoft Provisioning System Security.
  
• MPS fault tolerance and load balancing - See Fault Tolerant Service Provisioning Environment.
  
• What kind of application you will use to call MPS, such as a Web control console or another custom application.
  
• How you will submit XML requests to the MPF COM Client - For example, with the use of one of the following:
  
  • ASP code
    
  • The MPF Client .NET Wrapper
    
  • ProvTest.exe from the command line
    
  • The ASP.NET Web Service
    
  • A Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI)-based call (from across the Internet or an intranet)
    
  • A custom application that is capable of calling the MPF COM Client object
    

• Items from the new or replacement scenario list, with the exception of network infrastructure planning issues.
  
• The MPS managed namespaces and providers you want to utilize.
  
• Any new namespaces you might want to create.
  
• The development time required for writing the logic that calls the MPF COM Client to submit XML requests.
  

• Items from the new or replacement scenario list, with the exception of network infrastructure planning issues.
  
• The existing functionality you want to replace with new MPS providers.
  
• The language in which you will develop the new providers, such as Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, C++, or C# .NET, and the development time required.
  

• Which MPS providers you want to take advantage of in your system.
  
• What kind of application you will use to call into MPS, such as a Web control console or another custom application.
  
• How you will submit XML requests to the MPF COM Client - for example, with the use of one of the following:
  
  • ASP code
    
  • The MPS Client .NET Wrapper
    
  • ProvTest.exe from the command line
    
  • The ASP.NET Web Service
    
  • A custom application that is capable of calling the MPF COM Client object