Shared Service Providers (SSP) with MOSS 2007

What are Shared Service Providers (SSP) with MOSS 2007?

I've recently started digging into the Shared Service Providers (SSP) for MOSS 2007.

The idea behind the Shared Service Providers (SSP) within Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) is to allow for centralized control of features that are common among different sites. This also allows for sharing of these features between sites.

The Shared Service Providers completes all of the work around it's various processes, and is used by your web applications to locate the information requested.

SSPs are separate web applications and surprising are not required when setting up a site, but some features (like Search) will not work correctly until the first SSP is set up and configured.

This is the list of shared services that are handled by the Shared Service Providers model:

Search
Index
Audience compilation and User profiles database
My Sites
Business Data Catalogue (BDC)
Excel Services

How to set up a Shared Service Providers (SSP) with MOSS 2007

1. Open SharePoint central administration site

2. Click on "Shared Service Administration" on the left naviation

3. Click on "New SSP" below "Manage this Farm's Shared Services"

Here are some articles that I was able to locate on the topic:
MOSS Architecture and Shared Services
What is a Shared Service Provider?