SharePoint Hosting and Development

I'm back.

2009-01-17T10:24:00Z

I have resurfaced from the underground. My new blog is at http://www.sharepointmadscientist.com...(read more)

SharePoint Customization Best Practices

2008-09-22T23:54:00Z

At the SharePoint Best Practices Conference, there was quite a bit of interest in customization, specifically best practices for customization in SharePoint. The current bible on that topic was written by my buddy, Sean Livingston, a PM in the SharePoint PG. The doc can be found here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=92311&clcid=0x409...(read more)

SharePoint and Virtualization - Better Together!

2008-09-09T22:50:00Z

I'm really excited about virtualization and think it's the best way to streamline deployments and get the most bang for buck out of your hardware. However, there are some important differences between virtual and physical environments that you need to be mindful of. I was hoping to get my virtualization guidance out in conjunction with MSFT's updated guidance, but I'm really under water right now and haven't had time to do the needed testing. Still, if you plan to deploy a production farm on virtual...(read more)

The SharePoint Best Practices Resource Center is live!

2008-08-29T04:09:00Z

Check it out. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb736746.aspx...(read more)

Improving SharePoint with SQL Server 2008

2008-08-19T22:00:00Z

You might have noticed that SharePoint SP1 now supports SQL Server 2008 :-) http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/08/15/sql-server-2008-support-for-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/mikewat/archive/2008/08/19/sql-server-2008-is-now-officially-supported.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx There is a vast array of new features in SQL Server 2008. While I would love to explore all...(read more)

SQL Server 2008 is now officially supported!

2008-08-19T21:19:00Z

Microsoft has announced SharePoint Products and Technologies 2007 (SP1) support for SQL Server 2008. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx for MOSS and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx for WSS. (look towards the bottom) See my posts on upgrade http://blogs.msdn.com/mikewat/archive/2008/08/11/upgrading-sharepoint-sql-servers-to-sql-server-2008.aspx and new features http://blogs.msdn.com/mikewat/archive/2008/08/19/improving-sharepoint-with-sql-server-2008.asp...(read more)

I’m Speaking at the SharePoint Best Practices Conference

2008-08-13T20:19:00Z

It’s official. I’ll be at the SharePoint Best Practices Conference September 15 th – 17 th in Washington DC. This will be a great conference. There are a lot of great speakers and sessions and the focus on best practices will cut out all the fluff. If you are an ITPro focused on SharePoint/SQL/Storage design, availability, performance, or administration come check out my sessions on: Capacity Planning and Performance Tuning - Mike Watson (ITP433, CIO433, PM433) The topics of capacity planning and...(read more)

Upgrading SharePoint SQL Servers to SQL Server 2008.

2008-08-11T23:20:00Z

SQL Server 2008 is now released and is supported by WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 SP1 and above although we probably won't see a supportability statement anytime soon due to resource constraints with the content folks. I will let you know when the official supportability statement is released. [Update] - Support has been annouced. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx for MOSS and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx for WSS. (look towards the bottom) Upgrade from...(read more)

SQL Mirroring Setup Made Easy

2008-07-31T07:38:00Z

In an ongoing effort to simplify mirroring I've decided to post the scripts I use to setup mirroring for myself. There are 9 easy steps to execute. The trick with most of these commands is that they output a script that you will need to copy into the query window and execute on the appropriate server. The scripts assume that the entire SQL server is dedicated to SharePoint and will create a command for every database on the server except for the system databases (Master, Model, MSDB, and Temp......(read more)

SharePoint 2007 Infrastructure Update Released

2008-07-16T04:30:00Z

The SharePoint 2007 Infrastructure Update is a must have install including numerous performance and stability hotfixes. Make sure to install this one. For more info see the SharePoint team blog http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/07/15/announcing-availability-of-infrastructure-updates.aspx X86 X64 WSS http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3811C371-0E83-47C8-976B-0B7F26A3B3C4&displaylang=en http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3A74E566-CB4A-4DB9-851C-E3FBBE5E6D6E&displaylang=en...(read more)

Content Deployment Rollup has been Released

2008-07-02T07:36:00Z

If you are using content deployment (aka prime) you will be happy to know that the rollup has been released as part of the May 2008 Hotfix package. Find out more here. WSS: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952698 MOSS: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952704/...(read more)

Quick Blurb on SharePoint Deployment Best Practices

2008-06-26T04:03:00Z

SharePointJoel , Doron Bar Caspi, and I were interviewed by TechTarget after our *dizzying* session on Geo-distributed SharePoint Deployments at TechEd 08. I'm not sure where Joel's and Doron's audio ended up, but they included portions of my interview in their Windows Week In Review News From Microsoft TechEd 2008. You can access the audio directly at http://windowsnews.blogs.techtarget.com/podpress_trac/web/92/0/Windows_Week_in_Review_2008_061308.mp3 Not much meat there, but I figured this might...(read more)

SharePoint Reporting - What's Up?

2008-06-24T01:36:00Z

Joel and I had a lot of fun doing this video for TechEd Online about the state of SharePoint reporting. SharePoint Reporting—What's Up? Key Points about SharePoint 2007 reporting. Project and team based site collection administrators will find out of the box reporting adequate in most situations. Search administrators may be surprised by the out of the box search reporting. A. It exists. B. It has some good stuff. Portal administrators who are used to very robust metrics may not find the droids they...(read more)

The Canadians are Coming!

2008-06-07T05:24:00Z

My new buddy, and PFE extrordinare from Canada, Roger Cormier is blogging now. I'm certain he will have some good stuff soon so bookmark this one. http://blogs.msdn.com/rcormier/...(read more)

I Made the List.

2008-05-29T19:34:00Z

I'm number 65! http://www.sharepointjoel.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=31 Wow! That's super especially considering how neglected my blog has become since joining my new team. Regardless, I look forward to posting some good stuff in support of my upcoming sessions at TechEd. (see below) See you there! OFC373 Planning and Implementing Global Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Deployments Wednesday, June 11 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM, S220 E Speaker(s): Doron Bar-Caspi , Mike Watson Level: 300 - Advanced...(read more)