how SharePoint 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2 intertwine

I mention here that I set up SharePoint 2010 on my RackSpace server (which is by necessity of Windows Server 2008 R2 shape). The default site, which manages and spins up other SharePoint sites may be spawned from the start menu at:

Start Menu > Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products > SharePoint 2010 Central Administration

 
 

The app spins up in a browser at http://jaeschke:32896/default.aspx and requires that I log in as a legitimate user to use it. Please note that herein jaeschke is the name of my server and NOT a local A record specified at the hosts file at:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

 
 

From this default app, I started to explore what I could in SharePoint today. From http://jaeschke:32896/default.aspx (which was labeled "Central Administration") I clicked on "Application Management" and navigated to http://jaeschke:32896/applications.aspx (which was labeled "Central Administration > Application Management") and from there I clicked on "Manage web applications" and arrived at this screen:

I wondered where WebApplicationList.aspx was kept. I searched my server and found two paths:

1. C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\ad62b133\e5f9e9ff
2. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\ADMIN

 
 

Clearly, the files are kept at the second path and are part of a template called "ADMIN." I also looked at the html source for WebApplicationList.aspx and found two references to stylesheets:

1. <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_layouts/1033/styles/Themable/layouts.css?rev=aTcoNUf8p1YiDzYCg3%2FLIw%3D%3D"/>
2. <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_layouts/1033/styles/Themable/corev4.css?rev=iIikGkMuXBs8CWzKDAyjsQ%3D%3D"/>

 
 

Next I started wondering about port 32896. I found reference to it at my firewall rules which I accessed by typing "Firewall" at the start menu to get the "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security" dialog box.

Addendum 8/16/2015: I am commenting out http://a.yfrog.com/img811/3607/wxng.jpg which yfrog has seen fit to replace with some sort of iTunes advertisement. I wish I had not started up my blog hosting images with these clowns.

By typing "iis" at the start menu I found that the site had been prepped in IIS. As it turned out, whenever one adds a site via SharePoint's canned interfaces, the site is prepped for you in/at Internet Information Services.

By going to the Basic Settings... for the site I find that it is hosted at:

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\32896

When I visit this locale, I see global.asax and web.config but not a Default.aspx. Default.aspx is in the template folder. The actual files for any one given SharePoint site will bridge very different file tree locations at a given server. Anyways... back at WebApplicationList.aspx, I decided to create a new SharePoint application:

A modal appeared for configuring the new SharePoint site:

There were two pain points to overcome

1. When I completed this form, I was taken to a confirmation modal which held a link to "Create Site Collection Page" which leads to a different modal yet. One has to click this link and go to the third modal and fill out a second form there to get the new SharePoint site to function. Do not make the mistake of just closing the confirmation modal (for at this point you are only halfway done).
2. I got this error letting me know that I need to define a user for an Application Pool by clicking the "Register new managed account" link:
   
   
   The link lead to this screen where I tried to reenter my Administrator account's specs. I was told that I needed to update the password for Administrator as it turned out.
   
   

This told me that one may change one's password in Windows Server 2008 R2 from this locale:

Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change your Windows password