SharePoint Server 2007

Design Life Cycle

(Top 20 Design Questions)
Ben Curry Ben Curry
CISSP, SharePoint MVP
bcurry@mindsharp.com
Recommended Reading from
Microsoft Press
SharePoint Server 2007 Best Practices
SharePoint Products Administrators Pocket Consultant
Gather and Map Requirements
Business Requirements
Why?
Functional Requirements
Current systems Current systems
Technology agnostic
Technical Requirements
Specific to SharePoint Server 2007
Use your enemies!
Requirements Elicitation
Techniques
Traditional
Surveys, discussion groups, interviews
Existing Systems
Existing functionality and pain points Existing functionality and pain points
Group Techniques
Workshops, lunch-n-learn
Prototyping
Contextual Requirements
Expensive, but effective
Top 20 Design Questions
1. Should I migrate all of my content to
SharePoint Server 2007?
Moving disparate data into a poorly
organized SharePoint Server 2007 organized SharePoint Server 2007
implementation leaves data in disparate
SharePoint Server 2007 buckets!
File Shares will be here for a while
ISOs
Executables
Workstation profile backups
Top 20 Design Questions
2. How will I manage security?
Server administrators arent farm admins
Farm Admin training
Web application policies Web application policies
Delegation of Administration
Farm
SSP
Site Collection
Site
List
Top 20 Design Questions
3. How large / how many content databases
do I need?
You need an SLA, even if it is internal
Limit size to meet SLA restore times Limit size to meet SLA restore times
Map Site Collections to content databases for
multi-tiered SLAs
Performance of Site Collections
Its all about Site Collection management,
and its hosting content database
Multi-tiered SLA
Top 20 Design Questions
4. How many Web applications do I need?
Fewer is better
Use explicit managed paths instead of Web
applications applications
Politics drive the creation new Web
applications
Create new Web apps for Security*
Create new Web apps for Isolation
*Carefully weigh the advantages/disadvantages, and how much security isolation
you will actually realize
A Good Start to Web Applications
Central Administration
Never use App pool or identity for other Web
applications
Shared Services Administration Shared Services Administration
Good idea for security and backup/restore
My Site Provider
Policies, URLs, Zones, usability (http://my)
Portal / Intranet
Top 20 Design Questions
5. How do I enable external access to my
Intranet?
Zones
Web application Policies Web application Policies
VPNs
Legacy
SSL
Top 20 Design Questions
6. Do I need content types?
Yes!
Site Collection scoped
Workflows, templates, auditing, expiration, Workflows, templates, auditing, expiration,
site columns (metadata), Document
Information Panel (DIP)
Multiple items in New menu
Top 20 Design Questions
7. Do I need an information architecture
plan?
Yes!
Increase collaboration though careful, Increase collaboration though careful,
adequate planning of buckets
Strive for process-based collaboration, and
not organization-based
Top 20 Design Questions
8. Do I need Records Management?
Were you told to implement?
Yes Then OK
No then dont No then dont
Based on your content type structure
Routed on exact match
Can be programmed to route based on partent
content type
Top 20 Design Questions
9. What level of Search planning must I do?
Unless Search is a driving factor for phase I,
then just SharePoint Server 2007
Expand search as you mature with the Expand search as you mature with the
product
Use managed properties to expose metadata
tags in advanced properties and advanced
search
Top 20 Design Questions
10. Will I allow users to use SharePoint
Designer?
Train your power users first
Be careful with the 12 Hive Be careful with the 12 Hive
Understand the differences in a publishing
site and non-publishing site
Top 20 Design Questions
11. Will I leverage the Publishing features?
Advantages
Navigation
Master Page Inheritance Master Page Inheritance
Page Layouts
In-browser editing
Disadvantages
Page size
SharePoint Designer limitations
Top 20 Design Questions
12. How many Shared Services Providers
do I need?
One
Only create additional for reasons such as: Only create additional for reasons such as:
Legal or Regulatory
Records Center Index
Intranet/Extranet Indexes
Extreme scaling
Hosting Services
Top 20 Design Questions
13. Who will create site collections?
Do you have an IT Governance Plan?
Information Technology controlled creation
enhances manageability, but reduces enhances manageability, but reduces
timeliness and effectiveness of collaboration
Consider Self-service Site Creation for
highly-collaborative Web applications
DONT USE SITE USE CONFIRMATION
AND DELETION!
Top 20 Design Questions
14. Will I enable incoming email?
Enable for discussion lists
Enable for custom Workflows
Calendars and Tasks Calendars and Tasks
E-mail documents to lists
Requires SMTP on a farm member, or wire-
up to Exchange Server
Use Alias for server name
i.e. SP.mycompany.com
Top 20 Design Questions
15. Will you mail-enable SharePoint groups?
Easily email groups
Allow user-managed distribution lists
Works better with directory management Works better with directory management
service
Integration with Active Directory
Creates and maintains list contacts
Creates and maintains group membership in
distribution lists
Top 20 Design Questions
16. Do I need enterprise workflows?
SharePoint Designer workflows are list-
based, and cannot be distributed
Refine the logic in SharePoint Designer, port Refine the logic in SharePoint Designer, port
logic to Visual Studio and save as features
Deploy features to Site Collections
Top 20 Design Questions
17. What logging and auditing policies do
you need?
Carefully set logging and auditing!
Get code from Mindsharp Premium Content Get code from Mindsharp Premium Content
Use Event Logs for daily business
Enable trace logs for troubleshooting
Move trace logs from system drive if you will
enable them 24 x 7
Top 20 Design Questions
18. How will you monitor your solution?
System Center Operations Manager 2007
has management packs for Windows
SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint
Server 2007
Or, open the rules via SCOM Authoring
over 150 eventIDs and perf counters
See http://mindsharpblogs.com/ben for list of
perf counters
Top 20 Design Questions
19. How will you backup and restore
content?
For large shops and those who need short
recovery point objectives, use SQL recovery point objectives, use SQL
Native tools work!
Stsadm.exe o backup directory for farm-level
backups
Stsadm.exe o backup url for Site collection
backups
Stsadm.exe o export / import for site backup
Top 20 Design Questions
20. How many and which farm servers do I
need?
Plan for availability first
Usually 2 WFE Servers hosting query Usually 2 WFE Servers hosting query
One App server hosting ECS, Doc Conv, Central
Admin, and Index
Dont sweat it
Easily changed later, except Index Server
Always start with SQL Server Standard or better
to allow farm growth. Basic and Standalone
installs do not easily allow for farm scaling
Questions?
http://mindsharpblogs.com/ben
bcurry@mindsharp.com