My article, Using SharePoint for Extranets, was just published in the September issue of Windows IT Pro magazine. In my post about importing files into SharePoint, I hinted that I had replaced a custom extranet with a WSS 3.0 extranet. This article is a brief summary of what I learned about configuring SharePoint as an extranet platform during that project.
Only after this experience did I decide that something needed to be written about this subject. Specifically, I spend quite a bit of time advocating zone address consistency (having 2 or more authentication zones use the same site address). I was a bit disappointed that SharePoint ignored IIS's IP address binding feature, which makes collaboration much easier when multiple zones are used, or when SSL is needed (especially for extranets).
It's brief because it had to be. As you would be able to tell by reading some of my posts, I lean towards using more words than less to get my points across. When I first submitted the article to them, it was over 4000 words. I had to delete 1500 words to fulfill the article submission requirements. Of course this almost required a complete rewrite, and it's most likely the reason that the online edition of the article contains an extra sidebar and 2 graphics that wouldn't fit in the printed edition.
The gracious editorial staff (thanks Gayle!) over at Windows IT Pro agreed to allow the public access to the online edition of the article for about 2 weeks so I can share it with you.