Tag: SharePoint

SharePoint on Aurora

Given that SBS Aurora doesn’t include Exchange or SharePoint the first question I had was, could you actually install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS Aurora? The reason for my questions is that, at this point, SharePoint 2010 is not available in BPOS (it will be soon). So what if you were busting for SharePoint 2010 on SBS Aurora?

 

The good news is that in my testing you can install SharePoint Foundation 2010 just like normal. You firstly need to make sure a version of SQL is installed on the server. I used SQL Express 2008 R2 (which has a 10GB limit). I then installed SharePoint Foundation 2010.

 

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The files copied across as expected.

 

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You have to create a new farm and connect to the SQL database you have already installed but that is straight forward.

 

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Next the SharePoint Configuration wizard runs.

 

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You then run the setup wizard and bingo you have SharePoint Foundation 2010 running on SBS Aurora.

Not in my experience

In my travels around the ‘Interweb’ I came across the following post:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqlsetupandupgrade/thread/e737bd65-a14d-4f47-9260-df3b7842831a

asking about running SQL Server 2008 R2 (Full edition) on SBS 2008. The response was:

Basically saying that Microsoft said it wouldn’t.

Hmmm…I thought, I wonder if that is in fact the case. I don’t see why it wouldn’t install. So I set about downloading the trial version and installing it. The result was:

that is certainly seems to install without an issue. You do initially have to make sure that you remove the SQL 2005 Express Management Studio but after that everything works exactly as expected.

Now I can say, at this stage, whether there are any actual issues with SQL Server 2008 R2 running on SBS 2008 because I haven’t been running it for that long but I am yet to see any.

Just in case anyone was wondering.

SharePoint Foundation 2010 pre-migration

I’ve just upload another segment from a recent full SharePoint Foundation 2010 migration video that I have created for subscribers of my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide. This one looks at some suggested steps that you should take prior to any migration to SharePoint Foundation 2010.

Preparing for migration to SharePoint Foundation 2010

 

YouTube now allows video of up to 15 minutes so this one is the longest one I have posted on YouTube. Those extra 5 minutes should allow me to get more content into these video in future.

 

Apart from running the SharePoint Foundation 2010 pre-upgrade check the most important thing is to take a number of backups. What this video does not cover is how to recover to these backups in the event of a problem. That is something that you be familiar with before you get too far down the track.

 

When was the last time you ran a full SharePoint disaster recovery? If you haven’t then you really should spend some time learning how to do because it isn’t a matter of if, it is a matter of when.

SharePoint Guide promotion


Until the end of August I’m running a special promotion on my full SharePoint Guide. If any one you refer purchases the Guide and then lets me know it was you who made the recommendation, I’ll send you a $25 gift card from Amazon or Borders (Australia only).

So, if you refer two people who purchase the Guide then you’ll get a $50 gift card and so on. You don’t already have to be a Guide subscriber to take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is let the person purchasing the Guide know to send me an email (cirector@ciaops.com) providing your contact details as the reason for their purchase. Hopefully you can’t get any simpler.

The offer is only available until the end of August 2010 and you can find out all the information you need about the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide via http://www.wssops.com.

SharePoint Foundation 2010 storage


On of the major issues I see arising around any migration to SharePoint Foundation 2010 is the size of the content databases. The reason is that out of the box SharePoint Foundation 2010 is installed with SQL Server 2008 Express which has a 4GB database size limit. This is a pain because Windows SharePoint Services v3 (WSS v3) came with SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition (#SSEE) which had an unlimited database size (even though it had other limitations).

Many of the WSS v3 implementations on SBS I have seen have now grown beyond 4GB, so what’s your options if you want to upgrade to SharePoint Foundation 2010? The first was to use SQL Server 2008 Express R2 which has a database size limit of 10GB and is a free download from Microsoft. This does require manually installation prior to the installation of SharePoint Foundation 2010 as well as manual set of SharePoint 2010. However, even 10GB I can see potentially being restrictive for some of the larger Companyweb deployments.

Beyond 10GB the only option that I thought was to upgrade to a full version of SQL (i.e. Workgroup, Standard, etc) but that means shelling out money. I have however now found an option that will support databases up to 16GB for free. That method is using Remote BLOB storage.

Basically, you can install SQL Express 2008 R2, then install Remote BLOB storage and then upgrade the databases. The process is detailed in this TechNet article:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/library/ff628258.aspx – Upgrade a stand-alone installation on a domain controller by using Remote BLOB Storage (RBS) (database attach)

I haven’t tried it but it doesn’t seem much more difficult that installing an extra piece of software on the server and running an upgrade command. So where did I get the 16GB limit that Remote Blob Storage will support? Here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/library/ff628569.aspx – Plan for remote BLOB storage (RBS) (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

where it says:

If the content databases are larger than 16 GB, you must purchase Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Cumulative Update 2, or SQL Server 2005 with SP3 and Cumulative Update 3 to support the databases instead of remaining on a free version of SQL Server.

I don’t quite see why you ‘must’ purchase an upgraded versions of SQL Server but I’ll take Microsoft at their word until I can test this further.

So there you have it. From what I can determine the largest content database you can run with on SharePoint Foundation 2010 is 16GB after which you’ll need to pay for a full version of SQL server.

PDF icons in SharePoint Foundation 2010

After creating a complete video for Windows SharePoint Operation Guide subscribers on how to not only index PDF documents but also add a PDF icon in SharePoint Foundation 2010 I thought that what I’d do was take the part about creating PDF icons and make it public. So that’s what I’ve just gone and done and posted on YouTube.

Installing Acrobat PDF icon into SharePoint Foundation 2010

 

The process is pretty similar to what it was in WSS v3 except you need to use \14.0\ instead of \12.0\ in the registry and directory hives. However, this video should at least show you how to make the chance so the PDF icons will now appear next to Acrobat documents in SharePoint 2010 like so:

 

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SharePoint Foundation and PDFs video

For subscribers to my Guide I have created a 30 minute video that shows you step by step how to index PDFs with SharePoint Foundation 2010. The video also shows you how to display a PDF icon in SharePoint Foundation 2010 rather than just the generic one.

 

This video is the companion to the recently added chapters to the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide. What I am trying to do now is to create a video for every major component of the Guide because most people haven’t got the time to dedicate to learning the details. So providing a video is a quick way to get a good overview of the topic and then there is always the normal Guide to fall back on to get the exact details and screenshots of what needs to be done.

 

I have uploaded the video to humyo.com but for what I can work out I need to individually share it, which is a bit of a pain. So for the time bring if any subscriber wants access just email email me (director@ciaops.com) and I’ll make it available. Going forward I’m still looking for a good way to store and share video (and large files) via an individual login. If you have a suggestion I’d love to hear about it.

 

The next video I’ll be working on will take you through the process of migrating WSS v3 databases to SharePoint Foundation 2010. I’ll be doing this on SBS 2008 so that base also gets covered as well. Look out for that video soon.

 

Remember that I have now included videos like those mentioned above in both the Migration and SBS packs (if relevant). Thus, if you don’t believe the complete Guide is a worthwhile investment for your SBS world then the SBS Pack now includes not only SharePoint Foundation 2010 information and video tutorials.

 

More information about the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide can be found at www.wssops.com.

Update of WSSOPS SBS Pack

A while back I created two additional products that were a subset of my full Windows SharePoint Operations Guide (www.wssops.com). These were the Migration Pack (Chapter 7) and the SBS Pack (Chapters 4,7,11). My thinking was that they would prove popular because they were much cheaper but still had the same information as that found in the full Guide.

 

Alas, these ‘Packs’ have never proved popular at all for some strange reason. In all honesty I was simply going to pull them and focus on the full product but I have a change of heart and will give them a temporary reprieve. What I will do is include the SharePoint Foundation 2010 chapters of the Guide as well with these ‘Packs’. Thus, if you buy the Migration Pack you’ll not only receive Chapter 7 from the Windows SharePoint v3 Guide but also from the SharePoint Foundation 2010 Guide. Likewise with the SBS Pack. I will also include any of the relevant videos for these chapters, thus for the SBS Pack purchasers will get access to my 3 part series showing you how to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008.

 

Given the focus that SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008 is generating I’m hoping that there will be demand for these products. So for less than $90 you can not only get documentation on Windows SharePoint v3 on SBS but also SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS including video tutorials.

 

For further information on all the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide products and versions, including plenty of free stuff as well and how to purchase the products, visit www.wssops.com.