Scott Jamison

If you’re doing some SharePoint Server 2010 testing like I am, you might find yourself needing to rebuild your environment.  For simple testing, I’m using a single-server SharePoint Server 2010 farm. Just like in MOSS 2007, the easiest way to rebuild is to break the task into two steps:

Step 1: From the 14 hive SharePoint root, run:

 psconfig –cmd configdb -disconnect

This will detach the server from the farm (or if it’s the only server, it will remove the farm).

Step 2:  Using SQL Management studio, delete all of the SharePoint databases.  If you are using the stand-alone installation of SharePoint 2010 with SQL Express, you can download SQL Server Management Studio Express. (And look here for tips on installation of the express version of the management tool.)

Once you’ve got your server farm clean, you can run psconfig (or the SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard) to get your SharePoint farm back up with a clean install.

If you’re an MSDN Subscriber anyone who wants to check out SharePoint 2010 beta, you’ll be happy to hear that the SharePoint 2010 Beta installation files are available!  There are two key install files that were posted today:

• SharePoint Foundation Server 2010 Beta
• Office SharePoint Server 2010 Beta

Did you happen to notice the “Office” in the name?  :)

I’ll be posting in the next day or two all about the installation process.

Update:  Be sure to check out Jie Li’s install tips here.

It’s been a few weeks since the SharePoint Conference in Vegas.  Boy, what a fantastic event!  I’ve been asked to post my slides from my two sessions — and here they are!

If you build it, they will come: Driving SharePoint end-user adoption

SharePoint 2010: Governance, Planning, and Implementation

Like all other presentations, whitepapers, and videos, you can also download them from the Jornata website.

I’m currently in Vegas at the SharePoint Conference and have had a number of conversations with attendees about some of the new tagging features coming in SharePoint 2010.  In particular, SharePoint 2010 adds two key capabilities which impact how tagging will happen:

• The Managed Metadata Service (this will track folksonomy tags and enable companies to manage a central, hierarchical taxonomy)
• Social Tagging and Feedback (this will enable the community to tag a document, regardless of whether they have permissions to change the metadata columns on the document)

These features, while related, are very different. I’ll be following this up with another post on the detailed differences between managed keywords, managed terms, and social tags. If these features aren’t well understood (and their usage not governed properly), you won’t get the results you expect.

More to follow…stay tuned.

A common question I get is “why do SharePoint service pack updates take so long?”  The main reason, of course, is that unlike a service pack for, say, the Office client, which only needs to update the binaries, SharePoint needs to take two steps:  1) update the binaries, and 2) update the database schema.  While the database is being updated, SharePoint is down.

A new article on TechNet, published today, provides some best practices for minimizing your downtime.  It’s primarily for enterprise scenarios where avoiding complete downtime is critical. The article describes how to configure a mirrored Office SharePoint Server farm for minimal downtime during an installation of software updates by temporarily setting the content databases in a secondary farm to be read-only (while consuming shared services from a parent farm). It’s not perfect, since users can’t create or modify content. But at least they can get to their data.

I was in a customer meeting the other day helping evaluate one of their SharePoint sites that seemed to be running slowly (3-5 second response time instead of 1-2 second response time).  I asked about customizations that were done to the site when the customer said the following (to paraphrase):  “Yes – we built and installed four custom solutions, and there have been no performance code reviews on the custom code.”  No performance testing?  Or code reviews?  This is one of the many mistakes I’ve seen when it comes to custom solutions built on top of SharePoint.  Here’s why:

If you’re looking to build a business solution with SharePoint, you have two choices:  color within the lines or color outside the lines.  What do I mean? 

Coloring “Inside the lines”

SharePoint does so many things out of the box (that are relatively easy to configure) that it’s easy to get spoiled.  For example, I can provision a website, add permissions, add several custom data lists, drop in some out-of-box UI elements (web parts), add an aggregation (via the content query web part), configure a customized workflow, and show some KPIs (key performance indicators) all without any code.  In fact, I may be able to complete my solution without any custom code at all.  Wow – that was fast.  And since all I did was some customization using out-of-box tools, I can get away with cursory testing.

But hold on.

Coloring “Outside the lines”

The minute I recognize that my SharePoint-based solution needs an element that is not out-of-box, I may need to write some code.   Let’s say that customization gets me to 90% of my solution.  That’s okay, since I’m only having to build 10% of my solution (instead of 100%).  But as soon as I cross this line, I need to recognize that custom code requires a certain level of discipline that customization simply does not.  What does it require? Things like:

• Performance testing (does my code introduce performance issues?)
• Code reviews (is the code documented well?  is it written well? will it upgrade?)
• Best practices (is the code checked into source control? are all bugs eliminated?)
• Proper need (did I write code that I didn’t have to?  is there an ISV solution to close the gap?)
• Proper architecture (did I use the object model correctly?  should I use a particular feature that I neglected to use?)

Keep these items in mind when attempting any custom code with SharePoint.  Custom code is a good thing — just make sure that when you cross the line from customization to code, you do it in the proper fashion.

Here are some important resources regarding best practices with SharePoint, including the recent update to the Patterns & Practices guidance on MSDN.  In fact, check out the code acceptance checklist.  How many of these do you check before deploying your code?  Be honest!

• Patterns & Practices – SharePoint Guidance
• Code acceptance checklist
• Team-based development for SharePoint 2007

SharePoint is a powerful technology, but only provides the right level of business impact if you’ve got two key ingredients in the mix:  end-user adoption and a governance plan.  The first means having an end-user audience that is properly trained and informed, working in a culture that properly supports those users.  The latter means finding a balance between IT control and line-of-business empowerment. To that end, an agreed-upon governance model goes a long way.

Given the importance of both topics in a successful SharePoint deployment, I’ll be speaking on both of these topics at the upcoming SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas on October 19-22.  The official titles for the two sessions are:

• If You Build It, They Will Come: Driving End User Adoption
• SharePoint 2010 Governance: Planning and Implementation

Attending the conference and want to see me answer an adoption or governance question in one of the sessions?  Leave me a comment here and I’ll incorporate it into the session.

The conference is starting to sell out, so be sure to register soon!

The Microsoft Certified Master, arguably the best possible credential for SharePoint Server 2007 (and soon to be 2010), is an intense three-week training and certification program led by worldwide experts. If you’re interested in this advanced program for SharePoint Server 2007, there are two remaining sessions available before the 2010 offerings kick in.

They are:

September 14–October 2, 2009
November 2–21, 2009

I will be leading the logical architecture and information archtiecture instruction at each of these. If you want to be part of the premier certification for SharePoint, be sure to apply soon!  (But read some first-hand experiences to make sure you’re ready, such as this one.)

Windows 7, which I’ve been using in beta form since January, is a major release for Microsoft. The combination of stability, speed, and UI innovations in this version have left me feeling very good about this version of Windows. I’ve got the RC running on all of my machines, and it runs great no matter whether it’s a netbook or a powerful workstation.  I’ll be upgrading to the RTM version shortly.

If you’re interested in grabbing the bits, here’s the schedule:

• Aug 6:  MSDN Subscribers
• Aug 7:  Volume Licensing Customers (VLSC)
• Aug 16:  Partners (via the Microsoft Partner Network Portal)
• Aug 23: Action Pack Subscribers
• Oct 22: General Availability

If you’d like to play with the Release Candidate until the RTM version is posted for download, check out this site.

Back in the summer of 2007, I was interviewed at Microsoft’s TechEd Conference on the topic of SharePoint Server 2007. A colleague happened to find those interviews on the Web recently using a bing search and mentioned that he thought the material was more relevant than ever. Why? Because Microsoft’s vision for SharePoint is still continuing to unfold, with topics like governance, business planning, and composite applications at the front and center of implementations worldwide. The stakes will continue to rise as planning for the next version begins anew. Moving to SharePoint Server 2010? Good choice.  But be prepared and plan well.

Essential SharePoint Part 1       Essential SharePoint Part 2