I'm setting up the environment for an intranet using WSS (Windows SharePoint Services) 3.0. The catch is getting the environment configured to work with MS Search Server 2008 Express.

Here's the environment I'd like to setup:

A: Web Server; Win Server 2003 SP2; WSS 3.0 SP2; IIS 6.0; .NET 3.5 SP1

B: Search Server; Win Server 2003 SP2; WSS 3.0 SP2; IIS 6.0; .NET 3.5 SP1; Search Server 2008 Express

C: Database Server; Win Server 2003 SP2; SQL Server 2000 SP3 - Admin db, Content db, Config db, Search db

The question is whether 3 servers can be used like the above configuration or if the Search Server (B) has to be combined with (A) since we're using the free Express version of the Search Server. The documentation from MS doesn't make it clear either way. I can attack this problem with trial and error but would rather not.

The bigger question is: What is the best practice for a WSS / Search Server installation?