Capacity Planning

The following list presents some key issues for planning an intranet Web site:

Determine the site’s audience.
Determine the type of information the site will offer (static content, active content, file downloads, and so on).
Determine additional services (newsgroups, chat, knowledge management) the site will host.
Based on this information, install hardware that will, in its minimum configuration, meet the current needs of the site. (This allows for maximum growth potential before expansion of the site is necessary.)
As the site grows, use content striping to handle increased customer requests or the decrease in Web server performance that comes with more complex Web content.
As individual departments request that the site host more information, you can implement content specialization (that is, install more servers and divide the content among them). Content specialization will allow those departments to meet their requirements without impacting the overall performance of the site.

The model for a larger site would look something like the one shown in the following figure:

Mature Model for an Intranet Site