Driskell's iDeal Collaboration

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Summit FAQ

NOTE: All responses for each question is based on collective feedback from ALL Mindsharp Instructors.  By no means, were any questions answered exclusively by me.

During the Mindsharp Summits, there are a number of questions that are consistently asked.  We, please visit  www.mindsharpblogs.com for a list of Mindsharp instructors,  decided to provide an answer to those questions asked.  We will continue to update this posting.  In order to remain up to date, We recommended that you sign up for the RSS feed for Mindsharp Blogs. 

http://www.mindsharpblogs.com/MainFeed.aspx

Questions:

1. Can a Web Application (WA) be associated with multiple Shared ServiceProviders (SSP)?

Ans: a Web Application can only be associated with one Shared Service Provider (SSP).  That is, a Web Application (WA) has a 1:1 relationship with an Shared Service Provide (SSP).

2. Can you configure multiple Shared Service Providers (SSP) to crawl other Web Applications (WA)?

Ans:  Yes.  It is possible to configure multiple Shared Service Providers (SSPs) to crawl multiple Web Applications (WA) within and between Farms.

3. Can the user profile write back to Active Directory (AD)?

Ans:  Natively, there is not a two way synchronization between Active Directory (AD) and the Profile Store (PS).  Currently Out of the Box (OOB), there is only a one way copy, from AD to the PS.  But, you could use Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) or even script it. Yet, many of the postings refer to the one way copy as a synchronization between AD and the PS.

4. What are the implications of associating a Web Application (WA) to another Shared Service Provider (SSP)?

Ans:  Most evident and noticeable is that you lose all global search scopes, audiences and related targeting on list items, navigation links/bars, Web parts, etc. Oddly enough, Excel Calculation Server (ECS), Business Data Catalog (BDC), personalization links, and office ‘save as’ integration won’t be affected, UNLESS the Web Application (WA) that was changed is the Web Application (WA) hosting the My Sites.

5. What is the Internal URL section in Alternate Access Mapping (AAM) settings?  What is its purpose?

 Ans:  Alternate Access Mapping (AAM)  is used to identify possible internal URLs that could be returned to a user.  To avoid returning the incorrect URL and relative links, we would provide an entry that ensures that the appropriate Public URL is returned along with its relative links.  For instance, in a load balanced scenario it is possible to return the web1 and web2 URLs.  We would ensure the return of a public url by configuring an internal url for both web1 and web2 servers.  In configuring the Internal URLs we ensure that the public URLs are returned and, at the same time, ensure that the relative links are reflective of the public URLs.  Yet, all alerts and notifications would continue to reflect the default URL.

6. When do we create a new Web Application (WA) versus a Site Collection (SC)?

Ans:  Many teach that one Web application for collaboration is a great start. Also, we would leverage the politics of an organization to force the use of more than one WA, i.e. http://portal is tightly controlled whilst http://hogwild has self-service site mgmt enabled for short-term collaboration, with http://hogwild using the broken Dead Site Delete functionality.  That is, the business requirements are the drivers for determining the use of a Web Applications versus Site Collections.

7. Is there a limitation on the number of Content Databases (CD)? (We are assuming this is referencing assigning CD to a WA.)

Ans:  This is really a SQL Server 2000 SP4/SQL Server 2005 issue, subject to both hardware and software limitations.  For the most part, the theoretical limit is very high.

8. Can you define Site Collections (SC) in a Content Database (CD)? (We are identifying the process and options used to create a Site Collections (SC) to a specific Content Data (CD).)

Ans:  Ben and Nick posted a blog referencing the creation of Site Collections (SC) in specific Content Datases.  Please see posting at:  http://sharepointnick.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=17  Also, please register for the Mindsharp Premium area, http://mindsharp.com,  and download Ben Curry and Kath Hugh’s whitepaper on the STSADM command line tool.

From the GUI:

1, Take the existing contentDB(s) for that web app OFFLINE (this doesn't actually take the Site Collections offline, but prevents new Site Collections from being created in the database)

 2, Then, create a new ConentDB.

 3, Create the new Site Collection

 4, Take the step 2 content database offline. It will function normally, but refuse NEW site collections

 5, Set the original contentDB online

 From the command line:

 Stsadm.exe –o createsiteinnewdb –url -owneremail -ownerlogin -databasename

will allow you to create a Site Collection in a dedicated content database. Don't forget to take the database offline after creation, or future sites could be created in the new database.

9.  When would you recommend using Kerberos?

Ans:  If your organization is using the Kerberos authentication method, you can configure MOSS’s Web Application to use the same.

10. Do all the members of the Farm have to be the same bit (32 or 64)?

Ans:  No. we recommend that all servers of a similar function be the same. i.e. all WFEs serving a given Web App be the same H/W, S/W. There is not technical limitation here, just a Best Practice.

11. In the event a user is absent, Can someone else approve a task? If so, how does that affect the status of the task?

[BC] if you allowed that permission during creation. You can also assign a task to a group, so that any member of that group can approve. This is a checkbox available during creation. I STRESS the difference in the two options. The first allows anyone in the group to approve, the second option forces all members of the group to approve.

[PPS] using the same options with groups you can also setup that one member from each group must approve before approval is complete. Two from the same group would not be the same thing then as two from different groups.

[CHD] Also, any user that has approval rights on the item can approve or reject the item. Of course, the actual approver/rejector of the item name is listed. The name of the person assigned will only be listed when it is approved/rejected under their identity.

11.  Does Workflow point to the document item or to the task item? (This question is referencing the assignment of workflow after it is configured on the Document Library.)

[PPS] Assignment of Workflow is to a document library, list or content type. They normally use a Task list and a History list to implement the workflow. Users typically interact with the workflow by completing tasks in a task list.

12. What is a content type? What is its purpose?

Ans: A content type is a reusable collection of settings you want to apply to a certain category of content. Content types enable you to manage the metadata and behaviors of a document or item type in a centralized, reusable way. Content types, a core concept used throughout the functionality and services offered in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, are designed to help users organize their SharePoint content in a more meaningful way. Content types are independent of file formats.

Microsoft. (2006). Windows SharePoint Server Solution Developer Kit (SDK). Redmond, Washington, USA.

13. What is a column? What is a columns purpose?

Ans: A site column is a reusable column definition, or template, that you can assign to multiple lists across multiple SharePoint sites. Site columns decrease re-work and help you ensure consistency of metadata across sites and lists.


Microsoft. (2006). Windows SharePoint Server Solution Developer Kit (SDK). Redmond, Washington, USA.

14. Why would I consider using a Feature?

Ans: The use of Features ensures consistency and availability. All in all, the deployment via Features makes site customization and upgrades simple. That is, Features eases the distributed deployment of specific functionality.

Microsoft. (2006). Windows SharePoint Server Solution Developer Kit (SDK). Redmond, Washington, USA.

posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 7:16 AM