Ultimate SharePoint Infrastructure Best Practices SessionMichael Noel

Convergent Computing

Michael Noel

Author of SAMS Publishing titles “SharePoint 2010 Unleashed,” “SharePoint 2007 Unleashed,” “SharePoint 2003 Unleashed”, “Teach Yourself SharePoint 2003 in 10 Minutes,” “Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed,” “Exchange Server 2010 Unleashed”, “ISA Server 2006 Unleashed”, and many other titles .Partner at Convergent Computing (www.cco.com / +1(510)444-5700) – San Francisco Bay Area based Infrastructure/Security specialists for SharePoint, AD, Exchange, Security

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or Windows Server 2012 (Preferred)SQL Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 or SQL Server 2012 (Preferred)

Type Memory Processor

Dev/Stage/Test server 8GB RAM 4 CPU

‘All-in-one’ DB/Web/SA 24GB RAM 4 CPU

Web/SA Server 12GB RAM 4 CPU

DB Server (medium environments)

16GB RAM 8 CPU

DB Server (small environments) 8GB RAM 4 CPU

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Software/Hardware Requirements

Office Web Apps is no longer a service applicationWeb Analytics is no longer service application, it’s part of searchNew service applications available and improvements on existing ones

App Management Service – Used to manage the new SharePoint app store from the Office Marketplace or the Application CatalogSharePoint Translation Services – provides for language translation of Word, XLIFF, and PPT files to HTMLWork Management Service – manages tasks across SharePoint, MS Exchange and Project.Access Services App (2013) – Replaces 2010 version of Access Services

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Changes in Service Applications and New Service Applications

App Management Service – Used to manage the new SharePoint app store from the Office Marketplace or the Application CatalogSharePoint Translation Services – provides for language translation of Word, XLIFF, and PPT files to HTMLWork Management Service – manages tasks across SharePoint, MS Exchange and Project.Access Services App (2013) – Replaces 2010 version of Access Services

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013New Service Applications

A new Windows service – the Distributed Cache Service – is installed on each server in the farm when SharePoint is installedIt is managed via the Services on Server page in central admin as the Distributed Cache serviceThe config DB keeps track of which machines in the farm are running the cache service

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Distributed Cache Service

The purpose of the Request Management feature is to give SharePoint knowledge of and more control over incoming requestsHaving knowledge over the nature of incoming requests – for example, the user agent, requested URL, or source IP – allows SharePoint to customize the response to each requestRM is applied per web app, just like throttling is done in SharePoint 2010

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Request Management (RM)

Option 1: Simple one-way Sync (a la SharePoint 2007)Option 2: Two-way, possible write-back to AD options using small FIM service on UPA server (a la 2010)Option 3: Full Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) Synchronization, allows for complex scenarios – Larger clients will appreciate this

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013User Profile Sync – Three Options for Deployment

SharePoint 2013 continues to offer support for both claims and classic authentication modesHowever claims authentication is THE default authentication option now

Classic authentication mode is still there, but can only be managed in PowerShell – it’s gone from the UI Support for classic mode is deprecated and will go away in a future releaseThere also a new process to migrate accounts from Windows classic to Windows claims – the Convert-SPWebApplication cmdlet

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Claims-based Authentication - Default

Stores new versions of documents as ‘shredded BLOBs that are deltas of the changesPromises to reduce storage size significantly

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Shredded Storage

Documents are stored in SharePointEmails are stored in ExchangeTeam Folders can receive emails and have their own email addressEasy access to both from Outlook and SharePointUnified compliance policy applies to both

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Team Mailboxes – Exchange 2013 Integration

New Search architecture (FAST based) with one unified searchPersonalized search results based on search historyRich contextual previews

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Search – FAST Search now included

Classic and Contemporary views for mobile browsersAutomatic Mobile Browser RedirectionTarget different designs based on user agent stringOffice Mobile Web Apps

ExcelPowerPointWord

Push notifications

What’s new in Infrastructure for SharePoint 2013Mobile Device Improvements

Architecting the Farm

Web

Service Apps

Data

Architecting the Farm

Three Layers of SharePoint Infrastructure

‘All-in-One’ (Avoid)

DB and SP Roles Separate

Architecting the Farm

Small Farm Models

2 SharePoint Servers running Web and Service Apps2 Database Servers (AlwaysOn FCI or AlwaysOn Availability Groups)1 or 2 Index Partitions with equivalent query componentsSmallest farm size that is fully highly available

Architecting the Farm

Smallest Highly Available Farm

2 Dedicated Web Servers (NLB)2 Service Application Servers2 Database Servers (Clustered or Mirrored)1 or 2 Index Partitions with equivalent query components

Architecting the Farm

Best Practice ‘Six Server Farm’

• Separate farm for Service Applications

• One or more farms dedicated to content

• Service Apps are consumed cross-farm

• Isolates ‘cranky’ service apps like User Profile Sync and allows for patching in isolation

Architecting the Farm

Ideal – Separate Service App Farm + Content Farm(s)

• Multiple Dedicated Web Servers

• Multiple Dedicated Service App Servers

• Multiple Dedicated Query Servers

• Multiple Dedicated Crawl Servers, with multiple Crawl DBs to increase parallelization of the crawl process

• Multiple distributed Index partitions (max of 10 million items per index partition)

• Two query components for each Index partition, spread among servers

Architecting the Farm

Large SharePoint Farms

SharePoint Virtualization

Allows organizations that wouldn’t normally be able to have a test environment to run one

Allows for separation of the database role onto a dedicated server Can be more easily scaled out in the future

Sample 1: Single Server Environment

SP Server Virtualization

High-Availability across Hosts

All components Virtualized

Uses only two Windows Ent Edition Licenses

Sample 2: Two Server Highly Available Farm

SP Server Virtualization

Highest transaction servers are physical

Multiple farm support, with DBs for all farms on the SQL cluster

Sample 3: Mix of Physical and Virtual Servers

SP Server Virtualization

Scaling to Large Virtual Environments

SP Server Virtualization

Processor (Host Only)<60% Utilization = Good60%-90% = Caution>90% = Trouble

Available Memory 50% and above = Good10%-50% = OK<10% = Trouble

Disk – Avg. Disk sec/Read or Avg. Disk sec/Write

Up to 15ms = fine15ms-25ms = Caution>25ms = Trouble

• Network Bandwidth – Bytes Total/sec– <40% Utilization =

Good– 41%-64% = Caution– >65% = Trouble

• Network Latency - Output Queue Length– 0 = Good– 1-2= OK– >2 = Trouble

Virtualization of SharePoint ServersVirtualization Performance Monitoring

Data Management

Sample Distributed Content Database Design

Data Management

Can reduce dramatically the size of Content DBs, as upwards of 80%-90% of space in content DBs is composed of BLOBsCan move BLOB storage to more efficient/cheaper storageImprove performance and scalability of your SharePoint deployment – But highly recommended to use third party

Remote BLOB Storage (RBS)

Data Management

SQL Database Optimization

DB-AFile 1

DB-BFile 1

Volume #1

DB-AFile 2

DB-BFile 2

Volume #2

DB-AFile 3

DB-BFile 3

Volume #3

DB-AFile 4

DB-BFile 4

Volume #4

Tempdb File 1 Tempdb File 2 Tempdb File 3 Tempdb File 4

Multiple Files for SharePoint Databases

SQL Server Optimization

• Break Content Databases and TempDB into multiple files (MDF, NDF), total should equal number of physical processors (not cores) on SQL server.

• Pre-size Content DBs and TempDB to avoid fragmentation• Separate files onto different drive spindles for best IO perf.• Example: 50GB total Content DB on Two-way SQL Server would have two

database files distributed across two sets of drive spindles = 25GB pre-sized for each file.

Multiple Files for SharePoint Databases

SQL Server Optimization

• Implement SQL Maintenance Plans!• Include DBCC (Check Consistency) and either

Reorganize Indexes or Rebuild Indexes, but not both!

SQL Database OptimizationSQL Maintenance Plans

• Add backups into the maintenance plan if they don’t exist already

• Be sure to truncate transaction logs with a T-SQL Script (after full backups have run…)

High Availability and Disaster Recovery

High Availability and Disaster RecoverySQL Server Solution

Potential Data Loss

(RPO)

Potential Recovery

Time (RTO)

Automatic Failover

Additional Readable

CopiesAlwaysOn Availability Groups – Synchronous (Dual-phase commit, no data loss, can’t operate across WAN)

None 5-7 Seconds Yes 0 - 2

AlwaysOn Availability Groups – Asynchronous (Latency tolerant, cross WAN option, potential for data loss)

Seconds Minutes No 0 - 4

AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) – Traditional shared storage clustering

NA 30 Seconds to several minutes

(depending on disk failover)

Yes N/A

Database Mirroring - High-safety (Synchronous) Zero 5-10 seconds Yes N/A

Database Mirroring - High-performance (Asynchronous)

Seconds Manually initiated, can

be a few minutes if automated

No N/A

SQL Log Shipping Minutes Manually initated, can

be a few minutes if

automated, by typically

hours

No Not duringa restore

Traditional Backup and Restore Hours to Days

Typically multiple

hours, days, or weeks

No Not duringa restore

Comparison of High Availability and Disaster Recovery OptionsHA and DR

AlwaysOn Availability Groups in SQL 2012

HA and DR

Hardware Based Load Balancing (F5, Cisco, Citrix NetScaler – Best performance and scalabilitySoftware Windows Network Load Balancing fully supported by MS, but requires Layer 2 VLAN (all packets must reach all hosts.) Layer 3 Switches must be configured to allow Layer 2 to the specific VLAN.If using Unicast, use two NICs on the server, one for communications between nodes.If using Multicast, be sure to configure routers appropriatelySet Affinity to Single (Sticky Sessions)If using VMware, note fix to NLB RARP issue (http://tinyurl.com/vmwarenlbfix)

Network Load Balancing

HA and DR

Best Practice – Create Multiple Web Apps with Load-balanced VIPs (Sample below)

Web Role Serverssp1.companyabc.com (10.0.0.101) – Web Role Server #1sp2.companyabc.com (10.0.0.102) – Web Role Server #2

Clustered VIPs shared between SP1 and SP2 (Create A records in DNS)

spnlb.companyabc.com (10.0.0.103) - Clusterspca.companyabc.com (10.0.0.104) – SP Central Adminspsmtp.companyabc.com (10.0.0.105) – Inbound Email VIPhome.companyabc.com (10.0.0.106) – Main SP Web App (can be multiple)mysite.companyabc.com (10.0.0.107) – Main MySites Web App

Network Load Balancing

HA and DR

Security and Documentation

• Infrastructure Security and Best practicesPhysical SecurityBest Practice Service Account SetupKerberos Authentication

• Data SecurityRole Based Access Control (RBAC)Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) of SQL Databases

• Transport SecuritySecure Sockets Layer (SSL) from Server to ClientIPSec from Server to Server

• Edge SecurityInbound Internet Security (Forefront UAG/TMG)

• Rights Management

Five Layers of SharePoint Security

Security

Service Account Name

Role of Service Account Special Permissions

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-Setup

SharePoint Installation Account Local Admin on all SP Servers (for installs)

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-SQL SQL Service Account(s) – Should be separate admin accounts from SP accounts.

Local Admin on Database Server(s) (Generally, some exceptions apply)

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-Farm

SharePoint Farm Account(s) – Can also be standard admin accounts. RBAC principles apply ideally.

N/A

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-Search

Search Account N/A

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-Content

Default Content Access Account Read rights to any external data sources to be crawled

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-Prof Default Profiles Access Account Member of Domain Users (to be able to read attributes from users in domain) and ‘Replicate Directory Changes’ rights in AD.

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-AP-SPCA Application Pool Identity account for SharePoint Central Admin.

DBCreator and Security Admin on SQL. Create and Modify contacts rights in OU used for mail.

COMPANYABC\SRV-SP-AP-Data

Application Pool Identity account for the Content related App Pool (Portal, MySites, etc.) Additional as needed for security.

N/A

Layer 1: Infrastructure SecuritySample List of Service Accounts

Layer 1: Infrastructure SecurityEnable Kerberos

When creating any Web Applications, USE KERBEROS. It is much more secure and also faster with heavy loads as the SP server doesn’t have to keep asking for auth requests from AD.Kerberos auth does require extra steps, which makes people shy away from it, but once configured, it improves security considerably and can improve performance on high-load sites.Should also be configured on SPCA Site! (Best Practice = Configure SPCA for NLB, SSL, and Kerberos (i.e. https://spca.companyabc.com)

Layer 2: Data SecurityRole Based Access Control (RBAC)

Role Groups defined within Active Directory (Universal Groups) – i.e. ‘Marketing,’ ‘Sales,’ ‘IT,’ etc.Role Groups added directly into SharePoint ‘Access Groups’ such as ‘Contributors,’ ‘Authors,’ etc.Simply by adding a user account into the associated Role Group, they gain access to whatever rights their role requires.

User1

User2

Role Grou

p

SharePoint Group

Layer 2: Data SecuritySQL Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

SQL Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 Enterprise Edition FeatureEncrypts SQL Databases Transparently, SharePoint is unaware of the encryption and does not need a keyEncrypts the backups of the database as well

Layer 3: Transport SecurityClient to Server: Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encryption

External or Internal Certs highly recommendedProtects Transport of content20% overhead on Web ServersCan be offloaded via SSL offloaders if neededDon’t forget for SPCA as well!

Layer 3: Transport SecurityServer to Server: Using IPSec to encrypt traffic

By default, traffic between SharePoint Servers (i.e. Web and SQL) is unencryptedIPSec encrypts all packets sent between servers in a farmFor very high security scenarios when all possible data breaches must be addressed

Layer 4: Edge SecurityForefront UAG (SSL/VPN) vs. Forefront TMG

Capability TMG 2010

UAG 2010

Publish Web applications using HTTPS X X

Publish internal mobile applications to roaming mobile devices X X

Layer 3 firewall X X*

Outbound scenarios support X X*

Array support X  X

Globalization and administration console localization X  X

Wizards and predefined settings to publish SharePoint sites and Exchange X X

Wizards and predefined settings to publish various applications   X

Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) support   X

Rich authentication (for example, one-time password, forms-based, smart card)

X X

Application protection (Web application firewall) Basic Full

Endpoint health detection   X

Information leakage prevention   X

Granular access policy   X

Unified Portal   X

Layer 5: Rights ManagementActive Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)

AD RMS is a form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, used in various forms to protect contentUsed to restrict activities on files AFTER they have been accessed:

Cut/PastePrintSave As…

Directly integrates with SharePoint DocLibs

• Document all key settings in IIS, SharePoint, after installation

• Consider monitoring for changes after installation for Config Mgmt.

• Fantastic tool for this is the SPDocKit - can be found at http://tinyurl.com/spdockit

SPDocKit

Document SharePoint

SharePoint 2013 Unleashed from SAMS Publishing (http://tinyurl.com/sp2013unleashed)Microsoft ‘Virtualizing SharePoint Infrastructure’ Whitepaper (http://tinyurl.com/virtualsp) Microsoft SQL Mirroring Case Study (http://tinyurl.com/mirrorsp )SharePoint Kerberos Guidance (http://tinyurl.com/kerbsp)SharePoint Installation Scripts (http://tinyurl.com/SPFarm-Config)SharePoint Documentation Toolkit(http://tinyurl.com/SPDocKit) Contact us at CCO.com

For More Information

Throw away all previous data tier designs for SharePoint!SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups are the preferred design option for High Availability and Disaster Recovery at the data tierSQL 2012 is fully supported by SharePoint 2010 Service Pack 1 databasesFollow closely the guidelines, ensure data paths are the same, double-check security requirements

Session SummarySQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint 2010

Thanks for attending!Questions?

Michael NoelTwitter: @MichaelTNoel

www.cco.comSlides: slideshare.net/michaeltnoel