August 5, 2011 – Hosk's Dynamic Blog

I was doing an install last week and this week (that’s two install Hosk) and I have read the CRM 2011 dynamics implementation guide many times and well done Microsoft for writing such a great document and one that is easy to read and understand (which is useful when the pressure of the install is on). You can download the implementation guide here

Whislt reading the document I noticed some interesting bits which I have pasted below, they are things to consider and check when you are installing

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions general requirements

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions component has the following general requirements:

You must complete Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup before you run Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup.
You can install and run Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions on only one instance of SQL Server Reporting Services on a computer.
Separate deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM cannot share one SQL Server Reporting Services server. However, a single deployment of Microsoft Dynamics CRM that has multiple organizations can use the same SQL Server Reporting Services server.
You must run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup on a computer that has Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services installed. For smaller data sets and fewer users, you can use a single-server deployment or a multiple-server deployment. With larger datasets or more users, performance will decrease quickly when complex reports are run. Use a multi-server deployment with one computer that is running SQL Server for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and another server for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.

SQL Server requirements and recommendations for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

These requirements apply to new and existing installations of SQL Server:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM requires an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services be installed, running, and available. All installations of the supported SQL Server editions can be used as the reporting server. However, the Reporting Services edition must match the SQL Server edition.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is not supported on Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, or 32-bit versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is not supported on SQL Server that is running on Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server.
When Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 and SQL Server are installed on different computers, they must be in the same Active Directory directory service domain.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Deployment Manager support the default instance or a named instance of SQL Server.
Although you can install SQL Server by using either Windows authentication or mixed-mode authentication, Windows authentication is a prerequisite for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
The service account that SQL Server uses to log on to the network must be either a domain user account (recommended) or the Network Service account (you cannot use a local user account on the server). Using a low-privilege account strategy is recommended to help avoid compromising the security of the server.
The SQL Server service must be started. This service can be configured to automatically start when the computer is started.
SQL Server Agent must be started. This service can be configured to automatically start when the computer is started.
SQL Server Full-Text Search must be installed and started. This service can be configured to automatically start when the computer is started.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup requires a network library to authenticate SQL Server. By default, TCP/IP network libraries are enabled when you install SQL Server 2008. SQL Server can use both TCP/IP or Named Pipes for authentication. However, the computer that is running SQL Server must be configured for at least one of the two network libraries.
We recommend that the computer that is running SQL Server be located on the same local area network (LAN) as the computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011.
The computer that is running SQL Server must be configured to have sufficient disk space, memory, and processing power to support the Microsoft Dynamics CRM environment. For more information see the Microsoft SQL Server hardware requirements topic.
Although it is optional, consider accepting the SQL Server default settings for Collation Designator, Sort Order, and SQL Collation. Microsoft Dynamics CRM supports the following collation orders:
- Case-sensitive
- Case-insensitive
- Accent-sensitive
- Accent-insensitive
- Binary sort order (such as Latin1_General_100_BIN)

Note

Microsoft Dynamics CRM sets the collation order at the database level. This setting might differ from that set at the SQL Server level.

SQL Server deployment considerations

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a database-intensive application. Before you deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM to an instance of SQL Server, you should consider the following requirements and database configurations.

Modification of system tables. The SQL Server system tables should not be modified before you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011. Some database applications may modify the SQL Server system tables. If this occurs, problems with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and data may result.
Indexing. Full-text indexing must be installed. This is required for Microsoft Dynamics CRM knowledge-base functionality.
Compatibility level. During an upgrade or a new installation, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup sets the database compatibility level to 100, which is the compatibility level of SQL Server 2008.
Autogrowth. By default, Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization database files are created to have an autogrowth setting of 256 megabytes. Earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM used the default setting of 1 megabyte autogrowth. If you perform intensive database transactions, such as large data imports, consider increasing the autogrowth value to improve performance. For information about how to change the autogrowth setting for a database, see the SQL Server Management Studio Help.
Max server memory. We recommend that, if you run SQL Server on a computer that is also running other applications, that the SQL Server max server memory be set to no more than one half of the installed RAM. By default, max server memory is set to 2147483647 bytes in SQL Server 2008, which has demonstrated resource issues with SQL Server during intensive use of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For more information about the memory options in SQL Server see Server Memory Options.
Max degree of parallelism. We recommend that, if you are run SQL Server on a computer that is also running other applications, that the SQL Server max degree of parallelism be set to 1 to help improve performance. For more information about the max degree of parallelism see max degree of parallelism Option.

Planning requirements for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions are data processing extensions that are installed on the Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions accept the authentication information from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 and passes it to the Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup includes Fetch and SQL data processing extensions.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions are required for all major reporting tasks in Microsoft Dynamics CRM such as, working with default (out-of-box) Microsoft Dynamics CRM reports, uploading custom reports, creating Report Wizard reports, or scheduling reports. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions must also be installed before you import or provision new organizations.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup does the following:

Installs Fetch and SQL data processing extensions on the Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server.
Installs custom assemblies used by default reports and wizard reports on Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server.
Creates default reports (SQL-based) for the default organization both on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services server.

The following table explains what reporting options will be available to you if you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions.


Installed?	What reports will work?
Installed?	Default reports	Custom SQL-based reports	Fetch-based Wizard reports	Custom Fetch-based reports
No	Clean installation: Will not be available.	o Cannot be scheduled. o Can be uploaded and run if Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 and SQL Server are installed on one computer or Trust for Delegation is configured.	Will not be available.	Cannot be uploaded and run.
Yes	Will be published for the default organization.	Can be uploaded and run.	Can be created, run, and scheduled.	Can be uploaded, run, and scheduled.

Important

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions should not be installed on an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services that is running under an account that is a member of the SQL Access Group. This can occur when Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is running under the same account as a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 component. This configuration can make the system vulnerable to certain attacks. During installation, Setup detects this scenario. You can click Help for information about how to work around the issue.

Note that when you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions, you have the option of installing the component on a different server that is running Reporting Services. Therefore, by isolating Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions on a separate instance of SQL Server, which does not store the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases, report performance may be improved.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions requirements

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions has the following requirements:

You must complete Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup before you run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup.
You must run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions Setup on a computer that has SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services installed. For smaller data sets and fewer users, you can use either a single-server deployment, or a multiple-server deployment with one computer that is running SQL Server for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and another server for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. With larger datasets or more users, performance will decrease quickly when complex reports are run.

Active Directory requirements

The Active Directory directory service requirements are as follows:

The computer that runs Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 and the computer that runs SQL Server, where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM databases are located, must be in the same Active Directory directory service domain.
The Active Directory domain where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 is located must run in Windows 2000 native, Windows Server 2003 interim, Windows Server 2003 native, or any Windows Server 2008 domain modes.
The Active Directory forest where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 is located can run in Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 interim, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 forest functional levels.
The accounts that are used to run the Microsoft Dynamics CRM services must be in the same domain as the computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011.
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM security groups (PrivUserGroup, SQLAccessGroup, ReportingGroup, and PrivReportingGroup) must be in the same domain as the computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM. These security groups can be located in the same organizational unit (OU) or in different OUs. To use security groups that are located in different OUs, you must install Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 by using an XML configuration file and specify the correct distinguished name for each pre-existing security group within the <Groups> element. For more information see the Sample server XML configuration file for installing with pre-created groups topic in the Installing Guide.
For users who access Microsoft Dynamics CRM from another domain and are not using claims-based authentication, a one-way trust must exist in which the domain where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 is located trusts the domain where the users are located.
For users who access Microsoft Dynamics CRM from another forest and are not using claims-based authentication, a two-way trust must exist between the forests.