For those Small Business Server 2003 users, you already know and use Sharepoint Services 2 (Your Companyweb). You probably love it and hate it at the same time!
Sharepoint Services 2, whilst “ok”, really was missing some key elements to make it a truly impressive portal solution. Fellow MVP Chad Gross loves Sharepoint, but even he admits that the backup of data from it is not a simple task.
You are all going to get a big shock when you install Sharepoint Services 3. It is sweet…!
Granted, it is still in beta, but if you setup a Virtual Server you can test it for yourself on your network, and I suggest you do! (Obviously don’t put this on your production server)
You should go and read the FAQ here, the Guide here and watch a demo here.
Yeah…but is it easier to backup and restore?
I am a webmaster at a local college and they are dying for me to implement Portal Server. We did a test run of it to collaborate during our accreditation review this year. Tried using backup and restore tools that came with Portal Server as well as Veritas Backup Exec. It was an absolute nightmare for me. I never knew if I had a working backup or not. I must have read thousands of forums, books, and articles. Seems like everyone was having the same problems.
I watched Ballmers People Ready webcast…wow, the unbelievable integration. The only thing I could think of is how much trouble that is all gonna cause me when the college decides they want to completely integrate like that.
Dont get me wrong, I love Microsoft products, even Portal Server. What gives though? You devote so many resources to creating such a great product and then you get slack with one of the most important features…the backup.
Sorry to go off on such a tangent. I am 2 years out of college, can smoke through asp.net coding, love SQL Server, but when it comes to Portal Server, a solution built on things I have learned so much about…it frustrates me how incompitent I feel.
Hew…glad to have though off my chest. Thanks for reading.
Feel better now? 🙂
You have a VERY valid point. Portal 2 was / is a nightmare to backup. I have to admit, Portal is something I am not 100% on as I normally deal with SPS. Chad Gross may be able to help however.
Read these:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/cgross/archive/2006/06/06/99955.aspx
http://msmvps.com/blogs/cgross/archive/2006/03/31/88760.aspx
Both of the above posts from Chad may help you.
Nick
Thanks for the links. The college I work for pushed me into Portal. I had no knowledge of how it and SPS functioned. I have learned alot. I just installed SPS by itself at home to give it a try. Just getting rid of the My Site feature in SPS would reduce helpdesk type calls. I never did get a complete grip on the single sign-on.
I have a couple of question about SPS that I hope you can help me with. First off, Portal integrated would synchronize with Active Directory. I am not seeing this feature in SPS. Do all domain users need to be added one-by-one?
Second, I have never developed my own webparts…I am looking to get into that very soon. Is there a webpart somewhere that will allow users to modify SQL databases in a datagrid view? This would make it unbelievably easy on me to create a back-end to the college’s website.
Thanks again,
-chris
Whoooooooooooosh… That was the questions going over my head 🙂
Portal is somthing I know very little about. I would suggest looking at the following links where you may find an expert in this area.
http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/community.mspx
Yep…yep, what can I say? I am a moron for asking those here. After posting my prior comment I found the sharepoint community page and some really good sites. I appreciate the help and am sorry for being such a nuisance. Take care!
No problem at all! Come anytime 🙂