WSS 3.0 setup advice

[pwomack]

I've been asked to implement a SharePoint site (WSS 3.0) that will be used to manage documents. I don't expect to use the other SharePoint features such as blog, calendar, tasks, etc.

The site will host approximately 9,000 - 10,000 documents. Current storage for the documents on a network share is approximately 2.5 GB.

After the initial upload is complete I expect site usage to be minimal, with perhaps 15 people having access. Daily viewing/uploading of files should be minimal as well.

I intend to do a basic install and to use the Embedded Edition of SQL Server (Windows Internal Database).

Does anyone see a potential problem with this setup? Will the Embedded Edition of SQL Server be able to handle the load?

 

[cmv131]

As long as you are using the Embedded edition and not SQL Express you should be fine.

SQL Express has a 4GB database limitation, but embedded edition does not. However, you will not be able to use SQL Client tools to manage the DB

A few helpful links on Embedded edition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Internal_Database

http://www.sharepointu.com/forums/t/2373.aspx

 

[Snakeroot]

I'm new to Sharepoint and I've been seeing this warning frequently in what I've been reading, so I thought I'd throw it out to you:

"You must always have at least 50 percent free space on your database disk!"

Apparently documents are what will use up the most space in the database. They are not compressed and require up to 20% more space in the SQL Server. So a normal 1 meg Word doc will require 1.2 megs of database disk space.

 

[SgtJarrow]

SSEE should handle that just fine. We have a similar setup, but only about 2000 docs. No real issues so far.

Couple of side notes though....
First, you CAN use SQL client tools to work with the database. You just have to know the connection. And I am not 100% sure, but we only connect to our WSS database via the SQL Express Client Tools. I don't have the article or link anymore, but I found something a while back related this. The article mentioned using the SQL Express Client Tools, so we just installed that directly on our web server. The article also gave this as the "engine" to connect to: \\.\pipe\mssql$microsoft##ssee\sql\query

Second, and the reason I had to search for this in the first place, is that by default our SSEE installation had NO MAINTENANCE set up. So in short period, we filled up the C: drive on our web server because none of the logs were being cleared out. I used the SQL Express Client Tools and the above connection to get into the database and set up my own maintenance plans. Everything has been working great since.

Finally - to reiterate the basic - BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!!! Especially if you plan to use these undocumented access tricks. We have the SSEE database backed up according to our normal SQL back schedules, and I also manually back the WWS via the Central Admin page at least once a month and also before I make any change via the SQL Express. You just never know....

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[pwomack]

Robert,

Will you give some detail on how you set up your own maintenance plans since Management Studio Express does not support SQL Server Maintenance Plans?

I had the same issue with the c:\ drive filling up. What I did was set the database recovery model from 'Full' to 'Simple' using Management Studio Express, then shrank the databases. Finally, I run a database backup script from Windows Scheduled Tasks.

I have since moved the databases to a data partition.

Thanks.

 

[SgtJarrow]

That's what I meant. Sorry my terminology was a bit off there. Setting the recovery mode to Simple was the only thing I REMEMBER doing...but it has been quite a few months.

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[SgtJarrow]

Another suggestion....After checking my notes and looking at the database on my WSS server, I also see that I set the log files for the Content database to max out at a certain size. This way, the files can never get big enough to matter.

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[pwomack]

Thanks again, Robert!

 

[espressomaker]

You should probably give some consideration to the option of enabling versioning. If you allow this, the storage space required for your docs will multiply with each change. Of course, you can configure versioning in a couple different ways to lessen the impact. Just something to keep in mind.