UPDATE: RTM:
Launch the download of the IPD Guide for Exchange Server 2010.
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I’ve always enjoyed reading the Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides from the Solution Accelerator folks at Microsoft. The guides aren’t super-technical, but they are a great first step when preparing for an upcoming project. They help me feel like “I’m “doing things right” when I’m aligned with what’s inside. I also usually assign them as homework, for clients I’m working with, if they are unfamiliar with logic behind some of the decisions that need to be made throughout the engagement.
Additionally, these are a great source when quoting “best practices”. 
You can get an “IPD” on many Microsoft technologies. For a complete list visit here:
The reason for the post today however, is to share the announcement of the open beta of the Exchange 2010 SP1 IPD!
The guide covers these key steps in the Exchange Server 2010 infrastructure design process:
- Defining the project scope by identifying your individual business and IT requirements for a messaging infrastructure.
- Mapping features and functionality based on the defined scope to develop the appropriate Exchange Server 2010 design.
- Designing the infrastructure and role requirements for the proposed Exchange Server 2010 architecture.
- Determining the sizing, fault tolerance, and physical placement of Exchange Server 2010 roles.
Often, the Word document is accompanied by a Visio diagram, but no such luck for this version. However, nested in the document are some nice images (Click to enlarge one of the images):
“Beta” of course means not finished, but it’s a good read nonetheless. I encourage all of you to check it out and send feedback to IPDfdbk@microsoft.com. They have been very responsive in my experience.
Get the beta by visiting the Connect website at:
https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=6556&SiteID=14.
Mike Crowley's Whiteboard 