What's the best way to build/design/architect a windows server environment?

Shawn posted an interesting article along these lines which is accessible here

Browse to https://www.microsoft.com/msa to download free blueprint guidance for building a wide range of data centre scenarios. MSA stands for Microsoft Systems Architecture, just to keep you on your toes the name has recently changed to Windows Server System Reference Architecture(WSSRA) however the link still works as does a new link.

Here's an extract from WSSRA:

"Microsoft Systems Architecture (MSA) is technology architecture for the enterprise that has been proven in a partnered lab environment and provides pre-tested planning and implementation guidance.

MSA guidance addresses fundamental infrastructure issues such as availability, security, scalability, and manageability of the platform and also supports the IT life cycle stages of plan, build, deploy, and operate."

The guidance is based on the shared experience of Microsoft experts and their peers in major infrastructure partners. The material was written by technical people explaining the best way to architect solutions to business problems.