Using the new features in SQL Server 2008 with Office SharePoint Server 2007

Douglas Goodwin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:27:00 GMT

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 includes several new and enhanced features that are important for deploying Office SharePoint Server 2007. New and enhanced SQL Server 2008 features are especially relevant for SharePoint deployments in four principal areas:

Performance
Availability
Security
Resource management

You can improve Office SharePoint Server performance by implementing the new database backup compression feature in SQL Server 2008. The ability to compress database backups is a significant improvement for Office SharePoint Server users; it enables you to significantly decrease the size of your database backups and shipped logs.

You can improve Office SharePoint Server availability by implementing the new log stream compression feature in SQL Server 2008. One of the performance-limiting factors of database mirroring is network throughput between the principal and mirror servers. SQL Server 2008 supports compression of the log stream, which consists of the inserts, updates, and deletes that are transferred between servers. Log stream compression can help maximize network throughput, especially in environments where network conditions are poor.

You can improve Office SharePoint Server security by using the new Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) feature in SQL Server 2008. TDE enables you to encrypt entire databases and requires no application awareness or modification. TDE encrypts data as it is written to disk and decrypts data as it is read from disk.

You can improve Office SharePoint Server resource management by using SQL Server 2008 Resource Governor. SQL Server Resource Governor enables you to maintain and administer your SQL Server resources, such as CPU and memory. You can use SQL Server Resource Governor to precisely control how your SQL Server resources are allocated. With SQL Server Resource Governor, you can apply thresholds to incoming connections based on assigned criteria.

For prescriptive guidance about implementing some of the new features in SQL Server 2008 that enhance the deployment of Office SharePoint Server 2007, see Integration of SQL Server 2008 and Office SharePoint Server 2007.

For information about SQL Server 2008 system requirements, see Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008.

Douglas Goodwin, Writer
SharePoint Server UA team

Introducing the Performance and Capacity Planning Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2007

Kelley Vice — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:40:00 GMT

There is a tremendous wealth of technical performance and capacity–related information available for Office SharePoint Server 2007 on TechNet. I know, because I wrote quite a lot of it. However, the greater the volume of content that becomes available, the harder it can be to find.

Yes; I can hear you now. “Kelley,” you’re saying, “thank you so much for sharing with us this valuable piece of information, that is in no way extremely obvious and well-known by every sentient being in existence, and even some non-sentient ones, such as fruit flies.”

You’re welcome.

And now, allow me to introduce the (begin drum roll here) Performance and Capacity Planning Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2007 (cue trumpet flourishes and fireworks)! We’ve rigorously reviewed, analyzed, folded, starched, ironed, and consolidated every existing bit of performance and capacity planning content available today in one easy-to-use page.

Some highlights include:

· Topics organized into meaningful categories:

o Planning

o Recommendations

o Estimate performance based on test results

· Sections listing available resources:

o Demos

o Tools from Microsoft

o Tools from partners and the SharePoint community

o Community resources

We hope you’ll find this resource center helpful, and that it will save you time, money and precious, precious tears. We would like to hear from you if there’s anything we can do better. We actually do read customer comments and suggestions, and in fact, a large part of our work is improving our content based on your input.

Enjoy!

-- Kelley Vice

SharePoint IT Pro Writer

To the SharePoint : Performance

Using the new features in SQL Server 2008 with Office SharePoint Server 2007

Introducing the Performance and Capacity Planning Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2007