SharePoint 2010 Database Encryption

SQL Server 2008 Transparent Database Encryption is the best encryption technique
to work with sharepoint 2010.

High Level steps Involve
 Create the DMK
 Create the TDE Cert
 Backup the TDE Cert
 Create the DEK
 Encrypt the DB
 Monitor the progress

SharePoint Logging Location

wss_logging
In special case of requiremnet for auditing we can hit this database and particularly RequestUsage view to audit any request regarding request and access auditing..dbo.RequestUsage is a vew in the wss_logging database.

Advantage of REST

Eliminates the need for intermediate layers between client and server.
Read, create, update, and delete operations are mapped directly to GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE HTTP verbs
Introperability.- HTTP protocol.
REST interface uses flexible URL conventions for querying data, which enable you to filter, sort and select information
Easy to use with JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Atom, and AtomPub standards
REST interface, such as batching multiple operations into a single request, concurrency control through HTTP ETags, paging of large data sets, and access to document streams.

Welcome to SharePoint 2013 Apps

Along with the Farm solution and sand solution we are familiar with SharePoint 2013 another 3 mode of hosting for SharePoint 2013, this are app hosting model which will be running 100% out of the Farm in either in browser or in a webserver or in cloud.

App model are much cleaner simpler and upgrade process.

App Communicate with SharePoint via REST/OData/CSOM

App are granted permission to SharePoint via OAuth.

SharePoint hosted app – Run at browser implemented using JavaScript-client side app model.

Developer hosted app – Run in the web server or cloud, server side code. Using this model other language implementation says Eclipse or LAMP can be done.

Azure auto hosted app-   similar to developer hosted app but create its own database and web application for each tenant in the multitenant mode.

Why SharePoint Solutions Fails

SharePoint applications are best suit for bucketed solutions.

SharePoint is powerful, but need to be used for what it is intended for. For All type of web applications SharePoint is not an answer. SharePoint should be best suited for bucketed solutions. Where the major processing take pace beyond SharePoint and SharePoint provides the results of that processing .SharePoint is not a good option for large data processing, large content management, complex ORM models etc. Using SharePoint for a small percentage of what SharePoint is capable of doing will be poor on ROI.

SharePoint is not a closed application but a frame work.

One of the myths on SharePoint is SharePoint is a finished Product capable of doing our entire requirement. Out Of Box is a common terminology that got popular with SharePoint. Many people think that SharePoint is a finished product and don’t need any tweaking or customization to fit our need. This is not absolutely true. For example If a Customer ask us can we have a Document Management System in SharePoint without any customization we will say yes and this is true to an extent , but without customization like applying the policies , retention logics the Document management system in SharePoint  can’t stay for long. Because governance is an important part of SharePoint Solution. A SharePoint solution without a governance plan can’t survive for long or can end in disaster.

SharePoint Capacity planning is important factor

Lack of proper capacity planning A SharePoint solution can fail, SharePoint internally use different patterns and ORM models to make the functionalities. Some of them add complexity if we don’t follow the capacity plans benchmarked by Microsoft. Like any other application servers from Microsoft stack proper infrastructure resources are required for SharePoint for its optimum performance. We also need to consider optimizing the use of servers and the application services running on them in a Farm.  

Performance Tuning and SharePoint

There is lot of room for optimizing SharePoint application from the way OOB SharePoint provides. It include thinning  master pages / web pages, using optimized model, throttling mechanisms, proper and best coding practices while customizations, using best and optimal cashing mechanisms that suit the application. Users will abandon SharePoint applications if it won’t have the expected  performance.

SharePoint is all about delegation

Unlike a.net application SharePoint is a framework that can be extended by the end user for the needs. An end user with the proper permission can extend the functionalities of the SharePoint application by adding new features web parts etc. Lack of knowledge on this will results in using SharePoint as .net application. In most companies SharePoint applications are used AS –IS delivered from a project. If a minor change need to be done like adding an OOB web part or in co-operating an in-house functionality in SharePoint involvement of a developer is not required. Not using the delegation capabilities of SharePoint again is not proper utilization of the SharePoint.

SharePoint is not a permanent storage solution so retention must be in consideration.

SharePoint uses Sql server to store its content, so if we are planning to use SharePoint to store the documents or other assets by time it will impact the Storage and Performance. So we need to implement retention policies for the content, archiving mechanisms etc. to withstand the content growth adhere to the business requirement. There should be proper plan and policy for what should be retained and kept and what duration it should be kept.

Governance in SharePoint is important.

Governance in SharePoint should be an outcome of standard policies, rules and regulation to keep the SharePoint intact optimal and durable. Governance comprises three areas: IT governance, information management, and application management. Training users and users adoption is also a part of Governance. Inadequate or nil governance will end up in SharePoint solution failures.

Reporting in the SharePoint without SSRS integration

One way to create report in the SharePoint with source as list or external data sources is using rdlc files.

To create report using rdlc files the first thing we need is a rdlc template of the report. Using visual studio we can create a rdlc file referring to a particular data source.

To create a rdlc based report do the following steps.

• Open the vs create a visual web part project and add a report viewer to the ascx page.
• Now the next step is to create an rdlc file , for this add a new rdlc file from the Add > New Item > Reporting.
• Drop a table in the rdlc file this will open a data source selection wizard.
• Create a data Set and in the data source select sharepoint (in case the data source is from sharepoint)

With http://..........<site>/_vti_bin/ListData.svc

• Once this reference is added reselect the Object (where you selected the SharePoint option )in the selection and select particular lineitem template required, this can be a line item template of an existing list , or a new list we create to get the report template (once the rdlc file is created we can remove this list also).

Now map the columns in them as required.

So the design of the template is done.

• Keep this rdlc file in the app root path.
• Now the next steps is to bind the data .

//populate the data in a data table either using caml query or linq  (using caml is good for the performance)

DataTable items = dt;

//use server.mappath to direct to the rdlc file.

this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.ReportPath = Server.MapPath("~/po.rdlc");

// assign the datatable , note that the name parameter (first) will be same as that in the rdlc file(and should be unique for each report to avoid data mapping conflict.)

ReportDataSource rds = new ReportDataSource("PoData", items);

// and add the report data source to the reportviewer control as below.

this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.DataSources.Add(rds);

• Deploy the visual webpart to the desired webpart zone.

In case you need parameters to the report design it at the visual webpart so the query will filter out the data.

Happy reporting without sharepoint ssrs integration.

Multilingual in SharePoint 2010

To Mutliligual Support
1. Install Language pack on all (wfe & app) servers in the farm.
2. Run PSConfig wizard on all servers.
3. Go to Site actions à site settings à site administration à Language Settings 
   and check the required language.
4. New language selection menu in the welcome menu.
To Modifiy Content
 To modify the content with different language export the resource file of that particular site language and import it after modifying the resource file. 
1. Site Actions à Site Settings à Site Administration à Export Translations.
2. Download the .resx file. Open it in a resource editor in vs.
3  After modifying the .resx file import it to the SharePoint website . While uploading make sure to select the exact language.
   Click on Site Actions à Site Settings à Site Administration à Export Translations