Increased Performance for our Windows SharePoint Services Hosting

Last month we completed installation of another dedicated SQL Server database server.  This server is being used exclusively for hosting the databases used by our Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) shared hosting accounts.

SharePoint stores everything in the database - even the static web pages and documents contained in a SharePoint site are actually inside the database server and not on the web server.  With this new server we have increased our SQL Server hosting capacity so our WSS sites will not be affected by our regular database hosting accounts and vice versa.

For more information on all our SharePoint hosting plans including our very affordable one-user login Portal Hosting Plan for only $14.95/month through our intranet plans, please visit http://www.voicegateway.com/services/windows_sharepoint_services/default.htm

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One thing that most of using computers have to deal with all the time is the storage and movement of files.   It seems no matter how organized we keep our computers, there is always the need to move a file from one place to another such as from home to office or back.  If only it was that simple!  Usually, we're at a different location when we suddenly realize we need a file we left somewhere else.

Sound familiar?  how many times have you gone home and wish you had a file that was on your computer at work?  Visiting a friend's house and want to show them the latest family pictures?  Oops - they are on your computer at home and not available.

If you're like us, you probably also tried a few solutions such as publishing them on your website (not very safe) or emailing them to yourself (a real nuisance and very slow even on a fast Internet connection). Or maybe you've bought one of those "thumb drive" USB things.  Of course you gotta remember to put the files on it ahead of time, take it with you, and most important -- not to lose it or put it through the washing machine.

Looking for a clever solution?  Recently we started exploring some of the more advanced features of Windows SharePoint Services (did you guess that's where this was going?) and stumbled upon a great way to use the "web folders" feature.

"Web folders" is a capability built into both Windows SharePoint Services and the Windows Operating System (standard with Windows XP and even possible with Windows 98 through free upgrades to the Internet Explorer) that makes a document library on your WSS site look like a regular file folder on your computer.

Using web folders, you can open a folder on your desktop and just drag and drop files from anywhere on your computer into the folder just like any other folder.  But instead of being a folder in your computer, the "web folder" is actually your website located on our SharePoint servers in our data center.

In other words, the web folder feature creates a fake (virtual) folder on your computer which is really web storage in your WSS site, but you can manipulate it just like another file folder.

Voila!  With web folders you can quickly store and retrieve files from anywhere in the world to and from document libraries on your WSS website.  It gets better!  Because SharePoint web folders uses a technology based on something called WebDAV and http (the web server protocol), it is firewall friendly and works no matter what kind of firewall or security devices may exist between the computer and the website.

This means that without any involvement of your corporate IT department you can still easily store and retrieve files to or from your computer at work or at home.  No more hassle with the "information police" telling you simply "You can't do that - we don't allow it".  (In technical terms, WSS web folders use http protocol which travels over port 80 - the same port used by regular websites and the one port that is always open on every firewall.)

How do you use it?  Three easy steps:

Step 1: Order any of our SharePoint Web Hosting accounts (free setup this month!)

Step 2: Run Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser and click on "File", then "Open..."

Step 3: Type in the name of your site (such as http://myfiles.mydomain.com) and place a checkmark next to the button that says "Open as Web Folder"

That's it!  A folder will open on your desktop that is actually a view of your SharePoint website and you can drag/drop files between your local computer and the web folders.

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Our featured site this month is a SharePoint site:  www.allsaints-stpeters.org  - founded in 1823 and located in Saint Peters, Missouri.  This is a great example of how a community site can be built quickly and easily using Windows SharePoint Services and incorporating general information, schedules, contact information, and online documents for public access.  The site has been customized with graphics and layout changes without any custom programming, special software, or html skills required.

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