Sharepoint 2010 Top 10: Installation & Administration

Installation

1. SharePoint 2010 is 64-bit only
2. your infrastructure must leverage the following minimum requirements:
    Microsoft Windows Server® 2008 64-bit operating system with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later OR Windows Server 2008 R2
    Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 64-bit with SP2 or later or SQL Server 2008 64-bit
    Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with SP1 installed
3. Level 1 Internet browser options running on the Windows® operating system:
    Windows Internet Explorer® 7 32-bit
    Internet Explorer 8 32-bit
    Firefox 3.x 32-bit
4. Level 2 Internet browsers options:
    Internet Explorer 7 64-bit
    Internet Explorer 8 64-bit
    Firefox 3.x on non Windows operating system
    Safari 3.x
5. Prerequisite Installer - Before installing SharePoint Server 2010, run the prerequisite installer and it will scan the system to ensure that all of the components required to deploy SharePoint (Internet Information Services, .NET Framework, and so on) have been installed.
6. You have two options for installing SharePoint Server 2010: use the graphical user interface (GUI) or script the installation by using configuration files and Windows PowerShell.
7. GUI Installation - The GUI provides a simple step-by-step process where users can specify the configuration they want.
8. Windows PowerShell Installation - By scripting the installation, you can ensure that all of your servers running SharePoint Server have identical configurations. Scripted installations are also advantageous from a disaster recovery perspective. If a server goes down, you can reinstall SharePoint Server quickly by using a previously created script.
9. Development on Windows 7 - Install on Windows 7 or Windows Vista+SP1 for doing the development in addition to Server operating systems. This is huge as dev teams now can leverage the non-Server OS as they do it for SQL Server, BizTalk, etc.
10. Upgrade - SharePoint Server 2010 now recognizes a content database has been made read-only from within SQL Server and will trim the user interface as if all site collections were marked read-only. This allows users read access to the content while the upgrade takes place.

Administration & Central Admin Site

1. Powershell administration. - Windows PowerShell™ is the new command-line interface and scripting language specifically designed for system administrators that will be used for Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2010 administration.
    Windows PowerShell supports and uses XML and objects.
    Windows PowerShell is built on top of the .NET common language runtime (CLR) and the .NET Framework.
    PowerShell can be used for– scripted installations, configuration scripts, site provisioning/updates and more.
    cmdlet: a single function command-line tool built into the command shell. can be deployed just like any other SharePoint artifact using SharePoint Solution Packages (WSP).
    Around 652 command lets in SP2010
    Remoting interface that helps to run the command from one machine in a farm kind of scenario instead of running it on individual servers. There are 2 types of PowerShell Commands: 1. LOCAL ["BOX"]: This command must run on each box and 2. Global: This command only runs *once* per farm.
2. Managed Accounts - To reduce the load of managing various service accounts in Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2010, the concept of managed accounts has been introduced. They allow SharePoint Server to take control of all the service accounts you use. After SharePoint Server has control of these accounts, it can either manage their passwords — automatically changing them as necessary — or it can notify you when an accounts password is about to expire, allowing you to make the change yourself.
3. configuration database backup and restore
4. Site collection migration
5. Content recovery down to the site and list level.Content restore of site or list
6. Read-only content databases
7. unattached database backup and restore
8. The Central Administration Web site has been redesigned.The home page for Central Administration groups major functional areas together and lists many of the most common tasks. New capabilities to manage and monitor the SharePoint farm
   
9. Web applications creation process is now managed through a ribbon interface on the Manage Web Applications page.



10. A new page named Configuration Wizards has been added. Wizards are designed make the configuration process easier by guiding users through the steps to configure functionality.

More - SharePoint 2010 Top 10 Features Source - SharePoint 2010 Resources