SharePoint Best Practices

SharePoint Best Practices

Guidelines and Recommendations

for a Successful Deployment
Hank
Farlow

Senior Consultant

SharePoint Technical Lead

Advanced

Logic Industries (ALI)

hfarlow@ali
-
inc.com


Who is Hank
Farlow
?

•
SharePoint lead at ALI

•
25 years experience in the computer/software industry

•
15 years (total) at Microsoft

•
8+ years working with SharePoint, SQL Server and
Windows enterprise platform

Microsoft Confidential

SharePoint Best Practices: Architecture
Fundamentals

Core Logical Architecture

Physical Architecture

Designing Information Architecture

Avoid Common Mistakes

Review materials (BP Book, Governance
/Deployment Checklist, Tools)

Microsoft Confidential

WSS 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)

SharePoint
Server 2007
Enterprise

SharePoint
Server 2007
Standard

Windows
SharePoint
Services 3.0

Platform &
Collaboration

(blogs & wikis)

Doc Management,
Web Content
Management,

Search, & Portals

Web Forms, Excel
Services, BDC

MOSS

For Internet Sites

& Enterprise Intranet

Workgroup/Team
Sites

Intranet/Extranet

Standard

IIS

WSS 2.0 / SPS 2003

WSS 3.0 /

SharePoint Server

Web Sites

Virtual Servers

Web Applications

IIS Web Sites = IIS Virtual Servers = Web Applications

Physical Server

Web Application(s)

Top Level Site(s)

Site Collections

Site(s)

Site Collection

Microsoft Confidential

Consistency in Hierarchy

WSS 3.0

Web Applications

Site Collections

Sites

Templates & Features

MOSS 2007

Web Applications

Site Collections

Sites

Templates & Features

Microsoft Confidential

Servers Have Services and Roles

Servers have Roles

Web Front End (WFE)

Query

Calculation (Excel)

Index

(Non SharePoint) Database Server


Simplified Really Just 3 Roles

WFE/Query
–

99%

Index (App Tier)

SQL

Note:
Never put Query and Index on same server if there is
another
Query
server!


Microsoft Confidential


32 bit or 64bit binaries (Today)

SharePoint 2010 requires 2008 64bit & 64bit SQL 2005
or 2008

Install

Basic NOT RECOMMENDED
except

for POC

Advanced
–

Allows you to connect to SQL

WFE only vs. Full install

Language Packs
(Downloads on the Web)

WSS

MOSS

Ifilter

packs (Office provided, installable such as PDF)

Microsoft Confidential

WFE/
Query

“All in
One”

WFE/Q
uery

Index

SQL

SQL

All SP Roles

SQL

POC

Good Start

Ideal

User requests

Load balances web

front end servers

Application

servers

2 Clustered SQL server

Index

Query

Query

Calc +

10 Server Farm (Large)

User requests

Web front ends


+ application(s)

Application(s)

Clustered SQL server

5 Server Farm (Medium)

3 Server Farm (Small)

User requests

Each load
-
balanced server

includes:

•

Web front end

•

Applications

Dedicated SQL server

Single Server

•

Web front end

•

Application

•

Database

One Server which contains:

User Requests

Picking Your Topology

Availability

Performance

Microsoft Confidential

Usage

# Users

Solution (The answer before the question)

Authentication Type (Anonymous vs. AD)

Logging/auditing/monitoring

Business & Tech Requirements

Client & Server Performance Requirements

SLAs (Uptime/High Availability Req.)

WAN Considerations (Multi farm)

Data

GBs/TBs of data

Total # Files and Items

Consider using the capacity planning tool

Microsoft Confidential

You MUST learn the difference between site and site
collection despite the confusion.


Site = Web =
Spweb

aka
subweb

STSADM = Web

UI=site


Site Collection =
SpSite

STSADM = Site

Central Admin = Site

UI= Site Collection

•
Basic Install (BAD!)

•
All On C Drive

•
No Backup

•
Restore Complexity

Server

•
All One site collection

•
Not Configured: Quota, Expiration, Auditing, Versions,
Workflows, Meta Data capture

•
All items view default (flat)

List and Site
Collection

•
One database (content)

•
Db
config

(log and db location)

•
No maintenance plan

Database

Defaults have Faults

When Planning, understand the hierarchical structure

Items

Files, calendar items, contacts, customers, images, custom

Lists

Doc Lib, Pages, Events, Discussions, Surveys, etc…


* Sites

Wikis, Blogs, Team, Doc, Meeting Workspaces

* Site Collections

Internet, Intranet Portal, Wikis, Blogs, Team, Doc, Meeting

Databases

Content,
Config
, SSP, Search

* Web Applications

Central Admin, SSP Admin, Content

Servers

Web Front End, APP, SQL

* Farm

Internet, Extranet, Intranet

SharePoint Server Logical Model




Permanent Central Portal

Web Application



Division

Portals

Groups

& Teams

Projects & Workspaces

My Sites

Permanent

Structured

SharePoint Server Sites

SharePoint

Server

Sites

Ad Hoc

WSS Site

Templates

Permanent Division Portals

Web Applications

or Site Collections

Semi Structured

Consolidation on 1 to 3

Web Applications

1 Web App per

Region

Central

Portal

Unit

TechNet Max

Hank’s Guideline

Hank’s MAX

Web Apps per Farm

8

5 Content
Webapps

with
8GB RAM

16 app pools

100 web apps w/
32GB RAM, 64 bit

Databases per
WebApp

-

100 per SQL server


300 with 32GB RAM,
64 bit

Site Collection per
Web

App

50,000

100,0000

-

Size

per content
database

-

100GB

1 TB with serious

list
and site
optimization
(advanced

only)

Size

per Site
Collection

-

15GB in multi
-
tenant DB

100GB in dedicated DB

25GB in multi

1TB in dedicated Db

Sites

in Site

2000

100

500

Items

per List

2000 items per
view

Use Custom Views and
search UI for large lists

It’s pain tolerance

Operations and IT Failures

•
Poor configuration (Not planned
-

defaults)

•
Insufficient RAM and Disk allocation

Server

•
Poor choice of Site vs. Site Collection Structure

•
Flat Lists

•
One Content Database

Information
Architecture

•
Poor Network between WFEs and SQL

•
No plan for WAN (User complaints without answers)

Network

•
No Backup

•
Emergency: No Restore plan or steps

•
Disaster Recovery
–

More like Disaster

Operational

Backup/Restore

WSS Governance Model

Doc Workspace

•
http://docs

•
500MB

•
Self Service

•
6 months auto
delete

•
Excluded from
search

Blogs & Wikis

•
http://blogs

•
100MB

•
Self Service

•
1 year if not
used

•
No confidential
IP


Groups & Teams

•
http://team

•
5GB
-
15GB

•
Help Desk
provisioned

•
Listed in Site
List

•
Archived on
Demand

•
Confidential
OK

Adhoc

Structured

SharePoint Server Intranet Governance Model

Permanent Central Portal

Enterprise Search

Enterprise Browse



Division

Portals

Groups

& Teams

Projects & Workspaces

My Sites

Corporate

Business Taxonomy

With Divisional

Stakeholders

Per

User

Ad Hoc Self

Service

w/ Life Cycle

Management

Permanent Division Portals

Business Process Management

Division News

Group Reporting & Scorecards

Semi Structured

Group, Team, Project

Sites and Workspaces

Blogs, bios,

Social networking

Central

Portal
SharePoint Server Intranet Governance Model




Permanent Central Portal

Enterprise Search

Enterprise Browse



http://office


http://sharepoint

http://my

Corporate

Business Taxonomy

With Divisional

Stakeholders

Per

User

Ad Hoc Self

Service

w/ Life Cycle

Management

Permanent Division Portals

Business Process Management

Division News

Group Reporting & Scorecards

Semi Structured

Group, Team, Project

Sites and Workspaces

Blogs, bios,

Social networking

MSW
Path to Success

Information
Architecture

User Experience

•
Training

•
Validation

Branding & Consistency

•
Master Pages

•
Layouts

•
Designers

Site

Provisioning

•
Security

•
Ownership

•
Quotas

Search & Browse

•
Easy to find

•
Enterprise Wide Strategies

•
Content Types

How Do I Get the
Business

Involved?

Governance Checklist

SharePoint Best Practices

Guidelines and Recommendations

for a Successful Deployment
Wrap Up


Sample Tools

Governance

Plan Review

Deployment

Checklist Review

Q&A