SharePoint
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Microsoft SharePoint is a software platform and a family of software products developed by Microsoft for collaboration and web publishing combined. These capabilities include developing web sites, portals, intranets, content management systems, search engines, wikis, blogs, and other tools for business intelligence. This family of products include: Microsoft SharePoint Server,[1] Microsoft SharePoint Foundation, Microsoft Search Server, Microsoft SharePoint Designer and Microsoft SharePoint Workspace.[2]
Microsoft SharePoint 2010
SharePoint 2010 was released to manufacturing (RTM) on April 17, 2010[3] and is currently available in three editions: SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 Standard and SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise.[4][5] Microsoft has described the new version as the "Business Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise and the Web"[6] and advertises the following improvements[7] over its predecessor:
- a new user interface, including the new Office Ribbon
- Web Edit, allowing easy customization of a site
- Silverlight Web Part, allowing rapid integration of rich Silverlight applications
- Rich Theming, allowing simplified skinning of a SharePoint 2010 site
- support for multiple browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari (amongst others)
- Enterprise Metadata Management ("SharePoint taxonomy"), which enables a centralized taxonomy
The product includes a collection of other new features relevant to IT professionals[8], developers[9] and partners[10]. Complications in upgrading to SharePoint 2010[11] include a lack of support for Internet Explorer 6, only 64-bit architecture is supported, and businesses will need to run the latest versions of other Microsoft products (notably Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Office 2010) to take advantage of full functionality.
Microsoft SharePoint Server
Microsoft says it does not intend for SharePoint to replace a full file server or to function as a single-use solution. Instead, it positions the product to play various roles in a business environment. While SharePoint users can access SharePoint functionality through multiple methods, the primary user interface is a web-based application accessed through a browser. The majority of SharePoint's functionality is supported across all major desktop web browsers - however, some minor features are restricted to the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer 8. Notably, Internet Explorer 6 is not supported.[12]
SharePoint can also be accessed through: a Windows-based synchronised desktop client, Windows 7 Federated Search, WebDAV "Internet folders" (i.e. via Windows Explorer), Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office 2010, and other third party applications. Corporate directory security restrictions may be applied at a granular level, enabling SharePoint sites to be internet-facing, intranet-facing, or both.
SharePoint sites are, functionally, ASP.NET 2.0 web applications that are served using IIS and a SQL Server database as a data storage back end. All site content data, such as items in document libraries and lists, are stored within an SQL database named by default as "WSS_Content_[ID]".
Microsoft Search Server
Microsoft Search Server, an enterprise search platform, builds on the search capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint Server.[13] MSS shares its architectural underpinnings with the Windows Search platform for both the querying engine and the indexer. MOSS search provides the ability to search metadata attached to documents. Microsoft made Search Server available as Search Server 2008 in March 2008. A free version, Search Server 2008 Express, is also available. The Express edition features the same feature-set as the commercial edition, including no limitation on the number of files indexed. However, the free version is limited to a stand-alone installation and cannot be scaled out to a cluster.[14]. Various plugins can index third-party files, like Adobe's pdf files.
Microsoft SharePoint Foundation
Microsoft SharePoint Designer
Microsoft SharePoint Designer is a specialized web page editor for designing SharePoint sites and end-user workflows for SharePoint Server and SharePoint Foundation sites. SharePoint Designer also allows developers to manipulate data from SharePoint or external sources (such as Microsoft SQL Server) without coding directly against the .NET Framework. SharePoint Designer 2010 is the successor to Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, although the two versions are not compatible.
Reception
Evaluations of SharePoint by industry analysts have varied. In late 2008, the Gartner Group put SharePoint in the "leaders" quadrant in three of its Magic Quadrants (for Search, Portals, and enterprise content management).[15] Commentators have criticized SharePoint for its lack of well-integrated tools for developers, and for its complex customized software architecture that differs significantly from those of other ASP.NET-based web applications.[16][17][18][19] In response, Microsoft announced in 2009 that the upcoming version of Microsoft Visual Studio would improve the developer experience.[20]
See also
- Bulldog (Microsoft)
- Collaborative Application Markup Language
- Enterprise portal
- List of collaborative software
References
- ^ "SharePoint site". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ {{cite web |url=http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/product/related-technologies/Pages/default.aspx |title=Product Information: Related technologies |work=Microsoft Sharepoint website |publisher=Microsoft Corporation
- ^ [1] SharePoint Team Blog
- ^ http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx
- ^ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=167092
- ^ Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Site 2009 Microsoft Corporation
- ^ Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Feature Highlights 2009 Microsoft Corporation
- ^ SharePoint 2010 Benefits for IT Professionals 2009 Microsoft Corporation
- ^ SharePoint 2010 Benefits for Developers 2009 Microsoft Corporation
- ^ SharePoint 2010 Benefits for Partners 2009 Microsoft Corporation
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Plan browser support (SharePoint Server 2010)". Microsoft TechNet. Microsoft corporation. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ^ Kanaracus, Chris (2007-11-06). "Microsoft Unveils Enterprise Search Products". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- ^ "Microsoft Gives Away Search Server 2008". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- ^ "Gartner "SharePoint Related" Magic Quadrants Updated for 2008". Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ^ "Sharepoint is not a good development platform". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "What SharePoint can learn from Sitecore as web development platform". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "How ASP.NET developer have to adjust to work with SharePoint". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
- ^ "How MOSS Can Help Improve Business Processes – CMS Wire". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "SharePoint Development Improves in Visual Studio 2010". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
External links
- Microsoft SharePoint Official Site
- SharePoint at Curlie
- Technical diagrams (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
- Technical diagrams (SharePoint Server 2010)
- Windows SharePoint Services
- Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
- SharePoint Server Role in Windows Server 2008
- White Paper describes how different versions of Office work with Sharepoint
- New Features in SharePoint 2010