2.4 Assumptions and Preconditions

The assumptions and preconditions that are described in this section apply to the Microsoft Groove and Microsoft SharePoint Workspace system overall. For information about assumptions and preconditions that apply to a specific protocol within this system, see the specification for that protocol.

The Groove and SharePoint Workspace system is comprised of Internet-based collaboration software and protocols. It is designed to work with TCP/IP networks. Protocol clients and protocol servers in the system need to be able to communicate with each other through local area networks (LANs) and over the Internet. In addition, IP addresses are required at runtime for protocol client and protocol server computers. The system depends on a Domain Name System (DNS) to translate domain names to IP addresses. It is assumed that DNS servers are available on LANs and over the Internet.

If a protocol server is behind a firewall or proxy server, the firewall or proxy server needs to be configured to connect or proxy data from protocol clients to protocol servers by using at least one of the mechanisms supported by the Simple Symmetric Transport Protocol (SSTP), as described in [MS-GRVSSTP], HTTP Encapsulation of SSTP, as described in [MS-GRVHENC], or the Client to Management Server Groove SOAP Protocol, as described in [MS-GRVSPCM]. The firewall or proxy server also needs to be able to resolve server names to IP addresses and to establish connections to protocol servers by using TCP/IP. Finally, the firewall or proxy server needs to be configured to allow connections to at least one well-known port (SSTP, HTTP, or SSL) on the protocol server.