Comments on: Q&A: SharePoint Webinar and Whitepaper (Part 5)

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Sat, 15 May 2010 03:13:08 +0000

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By: bradteed

bradteed — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:10:31 +0000

So the important thing to remember is that the EBS (Extended Blob Storage) takes the content out of the database. This makes the operational management easier to perform and content databases don't get large as fast. There is no usability differences in this case. Furthermore, many of the mainstream ECM vendors have integrated into the EBS API to facilitate the storage of the content directly into their Applications. While it does complicate the architecture, it allows the typical "storing blobs in the database" complaint to be mitigated.

Operationally, with native SQLServer tools, the "best practices" recommendation for content databases is 100Gb. With enterprise tools, these databases can be much larger as it depends on the comfort of the support organization.

By: Dan Keldsen

Dan Keldsen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:58:31 +0000

Brad – ah, interesting, and not commonly known. The question at that point, however, is whether it actually makes sense to break apart management and storage – what you gain or lose by doing so.

Any common scenarios that you (or anyone else reading?) see as far as SharePoint as management layer, and storage elsewhere?

Have seen Documentum and Open Text in some scenarios – more from a records standpoint. Nothing else that I've personally seen with our clients.

Anyone else? What have you used for this separation of duties? And why?

By: Brad Teed

Brad Teed — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:10:23 +0000

You state that SharePoint content must be stored in the content databases. I believe it would be a more accurate answer to suggest that the content must be managed in SharePoint, through the content databases; however as of SP1, there are capabilities that allow content binaries to be stored externally

: Is it true that all documents must be stored into a database?

A: Yes, in order for the documents to be managed within SharePoint they must be stored in the content databases.