Hello,We are in stage of developing a .NET intranet application that is hosted under Sharepoint. we have one problem at staging and production environment. Some constraints require using the same servers for staging and productions. The development we did includes the following:under 12 folder we have added and customized images, styles, Java Scripts, themes, SharePoint Features, and user Controls. In addition to; we have deployment package that creates a DLL for the SharePoint Custom WebParts which will placed in the Assembly folder. I would like to know if this is recommended or not? And if it is doable, what are the important stuff to take care of? the risks? If any extra licenses are required in case we have new servers for staging?Thanks in advance

Hi,I wouldn't recommend this scenario, you should setup a new development environment even virtualusing the same servers for staging, developement and productions will result many downtimespecially in the developement you need a lot of IIS reset and modifications to DLL to test your workwhich sure will affect your production environmentmore over this will affect the performance this is a good article about development environment http://sharepointmagazine.net/technical/administration/best-practices-of-sharepoint-farm-configuring-and-deployment-part-3-development-environment Best Regards, Ammar MCT http://ahmed-ammar.blogspot.com Posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thanks Ahmed,But is it technically doable? if it is, what are the risks in overriding files or affecting production with testing builds?If it is not doable technically this will end my argue with management and we will go for having separate servers or VMIf it is doable then I need to gather the most detail I can to support my request for separate environmentAppreciate your help :)

Hi Maram, Unfortunately, technically it is doableHowever, it is totally not recommended As per Microsoft article http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb330848.aspx , If you are a developer who creates solutions for both the 2007 Office release and Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0), we recommend that you use separate development environments for each. All best practices recommend having a development environment, most likely Virtual or even on the developer client machines Best Regards, Ammar MCT http://ahmed-ammar.blogspot.com Posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.