SharePoint databases in action

In a previous blog post about Windows SharePoint Services databases I spoke about what SQL technology was used to hold Windows SharePoint Services content and configuration information. In this post I’ll have a look at these databases in action.

After creating a SharePoint site the information that is now entered into SharePoint is stored in a SQL database. To locate the name of this database you need to go into the SharePoint Central Administration for your site. You do this on the server on which you installed SharePoint via Start | Administrative Tools | Windows SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration like so:

Now select the Application Management tab then the Content Databases from under the SharePoint Web Application Management section. You should now see the name of the database used by SharePoint like that shown below:

If you click on the database name (in this case ShareWebDb) it will bring up further information about the database. As you can see from the above screen shot it is also possible to add additional databases from this window. Another important fact to remember about SharePoint is that you not only have GUI tools like what is shown here but you also have similar tools that can be run from the command line, allowing for scripting if necessary.

In terms of the file system, where exactly is the SharePoint content database stored? It is stored wherever the default data directory is for the SQL instance that you installed on your machine. In this case because we are examining Companyweb on SBS2008, which is using SQL 2005 Embedded Edition you will find those files in C:\windows\sysmsi\ssee\msql.2005\mssql\data like shown below.

Remember that for each SQL database there are normally two associated files, a .MDF (data) and .LDF (index). Both of these files are important for correct database operations. The actual file size of these database files will grow as the information in your SharePoint site increases, to as large as allowed by your version of SQL server or hardware. In this case, because Companyweb on SBS2008 uses SQL 2005 Embedded Edition it can grow by as much free disk space as there is available on the drive.

Note that you can relocate these databases to other locations if required, which is something the SBS 2008 wizards automate for you.

Finally, if we take a look in the SQL management tools we can also see the database. Because I am again using SBS 2008 here these GUI tools have been automatically installed since they don’t, by default, come with SQL 2005 Embedded Edition even though they are a free download from Microsoft. To launch the GUI tools go Start | All Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and run SQL Server management Studio Express. To connected to the SQL 2005 Embedded Edition instance you will need to use the following connection string

\\.\pipe\mssql$microsoft##ssee\sql\query

Once entered you should see something like:

Now simply locate the database (SharedWebDB) under the databases folder and right mouse click to view the properties.

More detailed information about Windows SharePoint Services databases and Windows SharePoint in general is located in my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide.

Does nobody care?

A couple of posts ago I wrote about Facebook follies and the fact that some scammers were using Facebook as way to attract potential victims. Part of this involved a picture of a man standing next to a bright red sports car. In fact it turns out these pictures are taken from someone’s online photo album as detailed in “Facebook scam: Ferrari man’s true identity revealed”.

Now I don’t use Facebook that often but when I logged in recent I saw the following ad:

Now where have I seen that before? (Firstly, I gotta say if you think he’s standing next to a Lamborghini then you deserve everything you get, it’s a Ferrari Enzo). I clicked on the ad and up came the web site:

with a lovely photo of ‘Tom’ and the pitch about how much money I can make if I just sign up now.

It would seem clear by now that this offer is a scam, so why is it still running on Facebook? As the article says:

“There are numerous reports of people who fell for the scam and were charged hundreds of thousands of dollars after handing over their credit card details.”
So where’s the protection for the Facebook user? It certainly doesn’t appear that there is much. I always used to say that the stock market was the perfect vehicle for transferring wealth from the stupid to the intelligent but now I’m going to have to revise that to being the Internet.

The continuation of these sort of ads again confirm my belief that we are losing the battle against the bad guys. Some may say that what is happening here is not against any law, and that people should always be aware when purchasing ANYTHING from the Internet and I agree. However, the reason that our systems are constantly under threat from viruses and trojans is that most Internet users are totally unaware of how they should be protecting themselves and look at the global problems that has caused. It seems that when it comes to using the Internet, common sense goes right out the window.

Now scams like this are nothing new and they happen on other sites like Ebay and what not but it seems to me that technology is making this easier in so many ways. Every day technology makes it both easier to perpetrate crime and confuse the average user. It amazes me in this so called world of ‘Web 2.0’ interconnectivity that most people are being left to fend for themselves in a pool of sharks. The more connected we think we are the more isolated we become perhaps?

The moral is clearly, every person for themselves and if it seems too good to be true then generally it is.

Yawn

Microsoft has release Internet Explorer 8. Does it really matter anymore? Are many non-techie people actually going to download it? It has some improved features, especially around security but is it really a must have any more? Unless there are some killer features most people are probably going to stick with Internet Explorer 7, until they get a new PC.

Microsoft also has a pretty lame set of videos on its Internet Explorer 8 site. These are no where as good as the propaganda that Apple turns out with its ads. The difference to me really goes to heart of the problem at the moment with Microsoft, they just aren’t in tune with the market and the most likely reason is that they are trying to be everything to everyone. I suppose that is part of become a ‘middle-aged’ company. It would be much better if Microsoft stuck to a core range of products but they need to squeeze revenue out so it is easier to do this across multiple markets. So in some sense the strategy makes sense. It would make more sense if they wanted to be more like Apple to get a new advertising company because this latest video and the Seinfeld video haven’t received a very good reception at all, with which I agree.

In all honesty I don’t use Internet Explorer all that much these days as Firefox, for me, is just better. In all honestly, I think people simply use the browser that comes with their computer. If is Internet Explorer, they used that. If it was Firefox they’d use that and so on. Most people want to get access to the Internet and don’t really care how that happens. So another version of an Internet browser is going to get a decidedly ‘Yawn’ reception in my books.

SharePoint databases

I’ll be talking about the storage requirements around Windows SharePoint Services v3 (WSS v3) specifically here.

One of the core components required for WSS v3 to operate is a place to hold its content and configuration data. It does so in SQL databases. There are quite a range of SQL databases available from Microsoft starting with the Embedded and Express Editions (both free), moving up to Workgroup, Standard and Enterprise. There are also different versions when you consider SQL 2005 vs SQL 2008. The good news is that they can all be used to store WSS v3 content and configuration.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Feature comparison (Embedded Edition is not listed here)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature comparison

Prior to installing WSS v3 on a machine a SQL Server instance needs to exist. If one is not present then you can select to have WSS v3 install SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition (SSEE). Now SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition is a far cry from the old MSDE database although it still does have limitations (as you would expect in a free version). The most important of these are the fact that it doesn’t come with any GUI tools, cannot be version upgraded and cannot be accessed across a network. Another overlooked default is that fact that it installs itself, programs and data, into the C: drive which can lead to space issues later. However, one major plus of the Embedded Edition (unlike the Express Edition) is it does not place a limit on the size of a database (the Express Edition limits databases to 4GB in size).

Thus, the Embedded Edition is a great option to get started with WSS v3, especially in the fact that you can work around some of the initial limitations. For example, you can download some free GUI administration tools from Microsoft and you can also relocate the databases to another drive to free up space. This is exactly what the SBS 2008 ‘Move SharePoint databases’ wizard does. I have heard people say that you should use a more upmarket version of SQL (e.g. Workgroup or Standard) because it give better performance. I must admit that I have never been able to prove the fact that SQL Embedded Edition is any slower than SQL Standard for typical WSS v3 sites. Now that may not be the case when you get really large WSS v3 sites ( ie > 4GB) but how many WSS v3 sites have you ever come across that are that large initially? Not many I would think. The only reason I can see you wanting to use a more upmarket version of SQL is if you wanted some of the specific high end SQL tools and abilities, like integrated SQL backup and restore as well as clustering. However, for most WSS v3 sites, at least initially, this is generally not required and because you can easily upgrade to another version of SQL later if required it doesn’t make sense to me to go this expense until absolutely necessary.

If you are happy using the SQL Embedded Edition that comes with WSS v3 then you can simply complete a Basic install (although not on SBS 2003 which requires a side by side install to prevent things from breaking). This will install SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition (SSEE) onto you machine, install WSS v3 and use SQL Embedded Edition automatically to store content and data. Nothing could be simpler. If however you want to use another version of SQL server as your data repository that version needs to be installed prior to installing WSS v3 and then you’ll need to select an Advanced install.

The difference between a Basic and Advanced install are quite marked in that a Basic install does everything for you, including setting up the first WSS v3 site. With the Advanced installed you need to do everything manually.

In summary then, WSS v3 requires a version of SQL Server to hold its content and configuration databases. You can choose from a wide range of SQL Server version from Microsoft, however the Embedded Edition that comes with WSS v3 is suitable for most initial deployments. If you plan to do much work with WSS v3 then it is beneficial to have a good basic knowledge of SQL Server as well.

Detailed information about WSS v3 databases and installing options can be found in my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide along with more information about getting SharePoint up and running in a business.

Peeved

I know that I need to update my anti-virus to stay secure and I understand that it is a critical component of my computer security but I can tell you that it is really pissing me off at the moment.

It seems like every time I turn on my PC and at least once during the day I get this message to update my signatures. By default you don’t usually get these messages as it all happens in the background but because it was happened so often I changed the default to prompt me so I could keep track of what as going on.

So when I booted up this morning I get another update message like so:

As I said initially, I know this is necessary and I’m not picking on any vendor, since I all believe they have the same issues to some extent but it just goes to show how bad things must be out there on the Internet if I’m constantly getting these updates.

Now getting the updates is fine but the way that it bogs down my machine when it applies the updates is infuriating! It isn’t a short period of time while that happens either. It seems to be getting longer and longer. As you can see from the latest update, that’s 2.3MB to be downloaded and installed. What happens to the poor people on slower Internet connections?

It all goes back to my contention that we are losing the battle against the bad guys on the Internet. How many years has it been now and yet it seems that number of vulnerabilities, viruses, trojans, compromises, spam, etc is not only increasing but increasing exponentially. We are building our future on a platform that was never designed to incorporate security, it has simply been ‘tacked on’ later as an after thought. Given that PC’s are now in the hands of people with absolutely no idea about how to stay secure we are increasing our vulnerability everyday. We are creating a larger and large playground for the criminal underworld to flourish.

Articles like “1 in 3 Windows PCs vulnerable to worm attack” and “Downadup worm now infects 1 in 16 PCs says Panda security” further highlight the problems. This doesn’t help either:

The worm exploits a bug in the Windows Server service used in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008.
since it clearly highlights that no matter how much “security” is taken into account with software it is still created by humans (usually under commercial restrains) and can never be perfect. Don’t be under the illusion that vulnerabilities solely exist in Windows, they potentially exist in every piece of software every written. We hear more about their effect on Windows machines because they are most popular. Software developers do create and release patches but not very many people actually apply them, so we have the worst of both worlds.

I must admit that I think it is almost getting to the point where vulnerable machines need to be denied access to the Internet or automatically fixed. That again opens up a whole can or worms in regards to accessing people’s private machine and other software compatibility issues but I think we need to consider what is the greater evil here. If people don’t patch and protect their machines they make the eWorld so much more dangerous and less friendly for everyone.

We live in a strange world where on one hand you need a license to drive a car yet on the other you don’t need one to create another human life. Maybe it is something that is just going to be a fact of life forever now but I can tell you that at the moment it is really pissing me off!

Twitter grade

Here’s another interesting Twitter site that I discovered from one of my new Twitter followers (Scott Bennett – thanks Scott). When you put your Twitter handle into Twittergrader you get something like the following:

What the hell does that mean? I’m not really sure given that I only have 19 followers. There isn’t much obvious info on the site to qualify what the grading is all about and how you go about improving your ranking if you wanted to. There are some nice search tools that help identify top cities, top users and so on but really how is this going to help your business? To do that it needs to have a lot information about how the actual grade is calculated.

I suppose it still early days for these types of sites but I can’t really understand the desire of increasing your grade just for the sake of increasing it. It is sort of like those people on Facebook with a million ‘friends’. It would seem to me that the more ‘friends’ you have on Facebook the less friends you have in the real world.

Technology for technology’s just doesn’t make sense, show me something that makes my life easier and then maybe I’ll pay attention!

Kakrafoon

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I’m still ambivalent about the business benefits of Twitter. I cannot help but be amazed at the sheer number of Twitter applications there are out there. One that I ran across recently, Twittervision, actually shows you a map of the world and overlays tweets like so:

It is a strangely mesmerizing display that provides no real benefit apart from the sheer fascination of watching these tweets display over time. It sort of reminds you of going to a party where the sheer number of people talking creates such a din that you have to speak louder, which conversely increases the din further.

This all kind of sounded familiar to me somehow but I just couldn’t remember where from. That is until I remembered this passage from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:
“It is worth repeating at this point the theories that Ford had come up with, on his first encounter with human beings, to account for their peculiar habit of continually stating and restating the very, very obvious, as in “It’s a nice day,” or “You’re very tall” or “So this is it, we’re all going to die.”
His first theory was that if human beings didn’t keep exercising their lips, their mouths probably seize up.
After a few months of observation he had come up with a second theory, which was this – “If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, their brains start working.”
In fact, this second theory is more literally true of the Belcebron people of Kakrafoon.
The Belcebron people used to cause great resentment and insecurity amoungst neighbouring races by being one of the most enlightened, accomplished and above all quiet civilizations in the Galaxy.
As a punishment for this behaviour, which was held to be offensively self righteous and provocative, a Galactic Tribunal inflicted on them that most cruel of all social diseases, telepathy.
Consequently, in order to prevent themselves broadcasting every slightest thought that crossed their minds to anyone within a five miles radius, they now had to talk very loudly and continuously about the weather, their little aches and pains, the match this afternoon and what a noisy place Kakrafoon had suddenly become.”
Maybe in his infinite wisdom and far-sightedness, Douglas Adam foresaw the development of Twitter as something akin to the punishment inflected on the Belcebron people of Kakrafoon. There must be some reason why people spend so much time broadcasting such inane parts of their lives. So far, I can only conclude that Twitter has been inflicted on mankind by a Galactic Tribunal as punishment for something.

Clearly, I must have missed the court notice in the Galactic Herald so I’ll never know why for sure. Perhaps the only thing to do perhaps to avoid Twitter-mania is to act like a dolphin and say “So long and thanks for all the fish”!