Via the team @knowledgecue and @ckukltd you can get hold of this step by step guide. This is a collaborative effort with Steve Smith of Combined Knowledge (UK). Steve runs a unique training class aimed for Infrastructure administrators who want to know about SharePoint in depth and this is one of the many module from that class. Remote Blob Storage (RBS) is a capability of SQL server 2008 and 2008R2 that can be used to offload content stored in databases to the file system. The guide covers the following three scenarios. Setup and configure FILESTREAM and RBS for a new content database. Configure RBS for an existing content database and site collection. Disable RBS from a content database. Download the guide from the Knowledge Cue team site - Configuring Remote Blob Storage for SharePoint ...[Read More]

Since the release of SharePoint Server 2010 (RTM) in April 2010 the following Cumulative Updates have been released. Current SharePoint Server updates - latest to oldest highlighted. December 2010 – SharePoint Server KB 2459257 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2459257/ December 2010 – SharePoint Foundation KB - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2459125/en-us October 2010 – SharePoint Server KB 2394320 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2394320/ August 2010 – SharePoint Server KB 2352342 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2352342 (Note that with this release there are additional updates for Project Server and FAST Search Server). June 2010 – SharePoint Server KB 983497 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983497 (Multiple) For most deployments which are operational these updates should (is recommended to) be applied on a regular ...[Read More]

Previously on my blog i posted how to get the most out of working with the branding aspects of SharePoint in 2007. Now with SharePoint 2010 the story has vastly improved and you CSS and web designer types has really nothing to complain about. Furthermore my good buddy AC (Andrew Connell) has done a great job by working with the good folks at Microsoft to create this awesome MSDN article with guidelines on how to “skin” the heck out of SharePoint. So next time before you complain about how hard it is (it’s really not that hard) to brand SharePoint suggest you go over to “Real World Branding with SharePoint 2010 Publishing Sites” and get yourself familiar with how SharePoint masterpages and page layouts are constructed and how you can abstract your design implementation. Let’s face it gone are the days of hand crafting web sites and cre ...[Read More]

In some cases where SharePoint deployments that have been carried out by resorting to the “Wizard” you’ll most likely end up with service and content databases that are GUID based. Also no matter what method you use the PerformancePoint service application when initially provisioned will contain a GUID as there is no option to specify the databasename paramter via PowerShell. However you can get rid of these GUIDs and set the database names to be human readable. The correct ay to do this is by first talking with your DBA’s or if you have full access to your SQL deployment you’d be able to run the following SQL script(s) to rename the database correctly. So the high level process as follows. In this example I am going to highlight the provisioning of the PerformancePoint service application and how to rename the DB and then reset the s ...[Read More]

Wow! TechEd is over and demo gods were kind and I actually was able to run two complete demos of In-Place upgrade and a Database attach upgrade on stage! As promised to all those who were at my session here are the links and the session slides from “OFS308 SharePoint Upgrade Deep Dive”. Download the session slides for OFS 308 Resources for upgrading. Upgrade Planning Center – IT Professionals > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee517214.aspx Developer Resource Center for upgrading SharePoint 2007 solutions to SharePoint 2010 > http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee514557.aspx Upgrading from SharePoint 2003 to 2010 > http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee947141(office.14).aspx Download of the SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Hyper-V Virtual Machine (Upgrading from 2003 to 2010) > http://www.microsoft.com/d ...[Read More]

Some eons ago.. I wrote a blog post about the same topic on SharePoint 2007 which still gets a fair few hits and one of the comments on that post recently was asking about SharePoint 2010 databases and why there was so many of them. And incidentally  I was preparing for a talk  on the same topic at the Wellington SQL Server user group so that comment couldn’t have come at a better time. If you are just starting out with learning SharePoint the chances are you will not need to know about SharePoint 2007. So I am going to *try* and not mention anything about 2007 but keep this post only on the topic of SharePoint 2010 and why SP2010 has so many databases. The new and improved architecture of SharePoint 2010 uses a concept called Service Applications. If you are struggling to understand this fundamental concept in SharePoint I suggest y ...[Read More]

Continuing on from my last post here are some more details about In-Place Records management in SharePoint 2010. Using a Records archive vs in place records management in SharePoint 2010 In Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 you can manage records in an archive, or you can manage records in the same document repository as active documents. With the Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 in-place approach, when you declare that a document has become a record, the record remains in place, but Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 now manages it as a record. For example, a document might get a different retention policy when it is declared to be a record, or users might not be able to edit it. Designing for in-place records management with SharePoint 2010 In Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 you can manage records in an archive, or you can use ...[Read More]

There is much talk about PRA (Public Records Act) Compliance and it usually comes up in so many conversations that I’ve been having. Lot of the times I get the following question “So is SharePoint 2010 PRA Compliant?” Now for my readers who are NOT from New Zealand go over to NZ Archives site on what PRA compliance guidelines have been set out for NZ [ http://archives.govt.nz/advice/digital-continuity-action-plan ]. In a previous post many moons ago I did an overview on “SharePoint DoD 5015.2 and what it means to New Zealand public agencies who are looking at PRA compliance” . Which was just an overview. You’d also notice that some of my previous links to Archives.govt.nz has changed which I’ve updated as well. (Hmm change.. PRA.. ) This current post is most relevant to anyone who is working in the NZ public sector who are using or pla ...[Read More]