How Many Sites Do I Need?!?!

SharePoint Saturday Virginia BeachMike Oryszak

http://www.mikeoryszak.com

January 7, 2012

• Practice Manager with Intellinet• Microsoft SharePoint Server MVP• Dev and Architect with MS stack since 1996• Working with SharePoint since 2002• Raleigh-Durham, NC Area since 1998

• Contact Info– Blog - http://www.mikeoryszak.com– Twitter - @Next_Connect– Email – nextconnect@live.com– LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeloryszak

About Me

• Understanding SharePoint’s Structure• Site Topology Options• Planning Scenarios• Wrap-up and Questions

Session Overview

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UNDERSTANDING SHAREPOINT’S STRUCTURE

How Many Sites Do I Need?!?!

Understanding SharePoint’s StructureSeries of Containers

• A Site Collection Contains– One or more Webs– Web Part Gallery– Global (Top) Navigation– Site Collection Features– Quota Management– Web Analytics Reports– SharePoint Security Groups

• Backups– Full fidelity backup– Can be fully backed up including security, versions,

workflows, etc– Can be restored to other farms in most cases

Understanding SharePoint’s StructureSite Collections

• A Web / Sub-Site Contains– Lists & Libraries– Web Features

• Backups– Can export content (documents, list items)– Cannot backup security, versions, workflows

Understanding SharePoint’s StructureWeb or Sub-Site

SITE TOPOLOGY OPTIONSHow Many Sites Do I Need?!?!

• Deep Site Topology

Site Topology OptionsTwo Extremes – Deep versus Flat

• Flat Site Topology

Site Topology OptionsTwo Extremes – Deep versus Flat

• When to create Site Collections – Governance dictates quotas and security to be

maintained by an administrator– Large amounts of content (30+ GB); divide it into

multiple site collections– Unique or new type of content

Site Topology OptionsCreating Site Collections

• Navigation Maintained At Site Collection – Global nav across site collections requires customization

• Themes/MasterPages Maintained At Site Collection– May need to be applied to each site collection separately– Formal packaged customizations may be required

• Content Query Web Part (CQWP)– Can only aggregate content within a site collection

• Workflows– Workflows limited to content and data within site collection

Site Topology OptionsHurdles With Lots/Multiple Site Collections

• When to create a sub-site– Content maintained by existing site collection admin– Related to existing content– Quotas are not used (Bad - )

Site Topology OptionsCreating Sub-sites

• Navigation Can Get Cluttered– More tabs than horizontal space and too much info

• Quotas Ineffective– Storage reports no longer effective or meaningful

• SharePoint Security Groups Get Cluttered– If default 3 groups are created for each site, can have

100s of SharePoint Security Groups

• Backups Fail– Backups fail because of too much content, no recovery

Site Topology OptionsHurdles With Too Few Site Collections

• Find the Appropriate Balance• Organize Content Based on…

– Site Administrator -> Who is the administrator?– Governance Plan -> Quotas, Policies– Amount of Content -> Smaller sites easier to backup and

restore– Importance of Content -> Isolate critical content– Type of Content -> Intranet, Team Sites, Applications,

Enterprise Content/Document Management

Site Topology OptionsRecommendations

PLANNING SCENARIOSHow Many Sites Do I Need?!?!

• How are you using it?

• What problems are you having?

• How can you improve things?

Planning ScenariosFeedback and

Questions?

Resources

• SharePoint Site Topology Planning– http://www.mikeoryszak.com/sharepoint/sharepoint-site-topology-planning

• Site Topology Planning & Taxonomies– http://www.mikeoryszak.com/sharepoint/site-topology-planning-and-taxonomies

• Planning & Architecture for Sites – Technet– http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261834.aspx