There is only one version of MPS currently released - version 1.0. There appears to have been some confusion regarding inaccurate documentation that refers to a version 1.0.2 or a version 1.1.
Version 1.0 of MPS is used for both the Solution for Windows-based Hosting and the Solution for Hosted Exchange.
Through the release lifecycle of the Solutions there have been incremental updates to MPS as part of the overall updates to the Solutions? documentation, scripts, and tools. These Solution updates have gone by the code names of ?Rainier? and ?Shasta? and ?Avalanche.? Regarding MPS, these Solution updates supercede the previous (e.g. "Rainier" and "Shasta" are now obsolete) and none of them modified the core product of MPS, but rather updated the Providers, Namespaces, and Companion Installer that accompany MPS.
Therefore, the most current version of MPS is still version 1.0 (which runs on Windows 2000) with the ?Avalanche? edition of updated documents, scripts, and tools. This version is available on the www.windowsbasedhosting.com Web site to companies that submit a request for access. For this current edition, it is important to note that the deployment guidance of the Solution documentation ?Automated Service Provisioning? (located for download on the www.windowsbasedhosting.com site) should be followed, not the ReadMe documents found with the product files. This current version 1.0 with "Avalanche" updates of MPS operates for both the Solution for Windows-based Hosting version 2.0 and the Solution for Hosted Exchange version 2.0.
To submit a request for access to www.windowsbasedhosting.com, send an e-mail message to
[email protected] describing your request and include your company?s Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) number. If your company does not yet have a SPLA, please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/licensing/acquirespla.asp. Note that Certified Partner Status is no longer the only means of eligibility for SPLA.
The Communications Sector Solutions Unit group is currently working on version 3 of both the Windows-based Hosting and Hosted Exchange Solutions. Each of these version 3 Solutions will include a further incremental update to MPS.
The Windows-based Hosting Solution version 3 update is code-named ?Tahoma? and will again not modify the core MPS product but rather provide a further update to the Providers, Namespaces, and Companion Installer. The old documentation included with the product files will be reviewed and inaccuracies plus unneeded materials will be removed. For clarification that this ?Tahoma? release will then become the most current version of MPS, the product folder and documentation will label this release of MPS as version 1.1. Version 3 of the Windows-based Hosting Solution will be broadly available through the Windows Web Hoster Program in October 2004.
The Hosted Exchange Solution version 3 update is code-named ?Krakatoa? and will be updating the core MPS product to run on Windows 2003, as well as the Providers, Namespaces, and Companion Installer for operation on Windows 2003. This version of MPS will be labeled version 1.5. Version 3 of the Hosted Exchange Solution will be available in early calendar year 2005.
If you have further questions on this topic, please reply to this message posting. n4
Matthew Boettcher
Web Platform Technical Evangelist (Hosting)
Developer & Platform Evangelism Division (DPE)
Europe, Middle East, and Africa Region (EMEA)
Microsoft Corporation