Introduction to SharePoint On-Prem
Architecture & Setup
Site Management
Lists & Libraries
Pages & Content
Permissions & Security
Search & Navigation
Automation & Workflows
Integration & Extensibility
Development & Customization
Administration & Governance
Migration
Compliance & Records Management
Storage & Database Considerations
When setting up SharePoint on-premises, a company must carefully plan its storage and database strategy. Unlike SharePoint Online, where Microsoft manages everything, an on-premises farm requires you to handle all the hardware and capacity planning yourself. The decisions you make here directly impact the farm’s performance and stability.
Content and Configuration Databases
At the heart of every SharePoint farm are its databases, which run on SQL Server. You will have at least two types of databases:
- Configuration Database: This is the brain of the farm. It stores all the farm’s settings, like which servers are in the farm, what features are turned on, and all security settings.
- Content Databases: These are the workhorses. They store all your actual content, including documents, list items, wiki pages, and user data. It’s a best practice to keep a single content database from becoming too large (over 200 GB is often recommended as a limit) to ensure good performance.
Storage Options and Best Practices
The physical storage for your databases is a critical choice. You can use local server drives, but the best practice is to use a Storage Area Network (SAN). A SAN is a dedicated network that provides fast, centralized storage, which is much more reliable and scalable for a SharePoint farm. It’s important to separate your database files and log files onto different physical disks to improve performance. Additionally, you should back up your databases regularly. A well-planned backup and recovery strategy is the most important part of managing your storage to prevent data loss.
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