Archive for January 2012

SharePoint FIS and SharePoint FIS Licensing: FAQs (Part 1 of 2)

January 24th, 2012
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SharePoint for Internet Sites

Ferrari's Web site is designed using SharePoint for Internet Sites. For more examples, go to our SharePoint FIS hosting page.

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

Offering cloud hosting for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites (SharePoint FIS) was a no-brainer for us.  After all, digital content creators’ interest in the cloud, and the mobile access it affords, is surging.

Including SharePoint FIS hosting among our product offerings represents the first of several steps that AIS Network will take to expand its cloud hosting services for professionals working in digital content creation fields such as Web development, design, publishing, film, architecture, advertising, marketing and public relations.

Here are some “Frequently Asked Questions” focused on what SharePoint FIS is and how to make some sense of SharePoint FIS licensing.  My next entry, Part 2 of this two-part blog, will include specific usage scenarios and how to handle licensing in those cases.

What is SharePoint FIS?

SharePoint FIS empowers creative teams to publish beautiful, interactive external Internet and extranet sites, while dramatically simplifying Web content management and administration.

Who uses SharePoint FIS?

Hosted SharePoint for Internet Sites (SharePoint FIS) is ideal for compliance-focused corporate enterprises, associations and institutions that need to interact with a large number of users via a public-facing Web site.  Digital marketers and design agencies, who need to launch multiple Internet/extranet sites quickly and easily, are also making great use of SharePoint FIS.   You’ll find some examples on our SharePoint FIS hosting page.

What are my SharePoint FIS licensing options?

SharePoint FIS comes in two flavors, Standard and Enterprise.  SharePoint FIS Standard is scoped for a single domain only and has standard SharePoint features for unlimited users (anonymous or authenticated).  SharePoint FIS Enterprise, on the other hand, is scoped for multiple domains and has enterprise SharePoint features for unlimited users (anonymous or authenticated).  According to Microsoft…

SharePoint Server FIS Standard:

  • Helps small and mid-size organizations create public-facing Internet sites or basic extranets.
  • Provides licensing for the same features as the Standard CAL for SharePoint Server.
  • Designed only to be used for creating and hosting a single site resolved from a single domain name (such as aisn.com) and its subdomains (such as support.aisn.com).
  • When combined with active Microsoft Software Assurance, it’s eligible to be stepped up to SharePoint Server for Internet Sites Enterprise for an additional fee.

SharePoint Server FIS Enterprise:

  • Designed for enterprises to create externally-facing public Internet sites and secure private extranets using the full capabilities of SharePoint Server.
  • Provides licensing for all SharePoint Server features (the same as SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL).
  • Offers the rights to host an unlimited number of sites and/or domains.

So, SharePoint FIS Standard is for just one domain?

Yes, SharePoint FIS Standard can only be used to support a single site and its related subdomains on a single domain.  Because the licensing of SharePoint FIS is per running instance, you can run more than one site/domain using the Standard edition only if separate running instances are used for each site/domain and a unique license of SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Standard is allocated for each running instance.

Does SharePoint FIS Enterprise have FAST Search?

Yes.  For use in Internet/extranet scenarios, the on-premise server license also includes the rights to FAST Search. You can deploy a single server license of SharePoint FIS Enterprise as a SharePoint server OR a FAST Search server—but not both concurrently.  Keep in mind that FAST Search server licensing does not apply to SPLA licensing.

How is SharePoint FIS licensed?

SharePoint Server for Internet Sites is licensed per running instance.  No Client Access Licenses (CALs) are required, even for authors creating content.  When using SharePoint FIS for licensing external-facing scenarios, you must have a server license for all servers that are used to deliver content to external users – regardless of the farm configuration or whether or not users are directly accessing that server (staging, application, front-end, or index).

Servers in a development/test environment are exempt from this rule assuming they are covered by MSDN® developer program licensing. According to Microsoft, the underlying logic in this is that all servers supporting a specific solution (internal vs. external and production vs. development test) must be licensed similarly (i.e., in the CAL/Server model, the per-server “For Internet Sites” model, or the MSDN developer program). This is independent of the order in which information moves through servers.

What if I only need an intranet built on SharePoint?

Intranet sites are licensed using a Server/CAL (Client Access License) model.  SharePoint Server 2010 is required for each running instance of the software, and CALs are required for each person or device accessing a SharePoint Server.

This is so confusing.  Isn’t there someone who can help me figure this out?

Yes, you’re not alone in thinking that SharePoint FIS licensing is confusing.  I am happy to walk you through it and help you assess your organization’s needs.

Call me at 1-888-401-AISN, or email me at:  bill.peters@aisn.net.  Or, simply leave a comment below.  Good luck!

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What Is Microsoft Office 365? What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks of SharePoint Online? (Part 2 of 2)

January 12th, 2012
Posted by: admin

By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President

To review:  In June 2011, Microsoft released Office 365, which is essentially bundled online software hosted in the cloud. Office 365 replaced Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) and bundles together the latest upgrades of its SharePoint, Exchange and Lync Server solutions.  So, when you hear “SharePoint Online,” that means SharePoint as it is presented in Office 365, which is hosted by Microsoft. In my last blog, the first part of this series, I explained what Microosft Office 365/SharePoint Online is.  Now, let’s look at the benefits and drawbacks.

Office 365

In today's blog, we look at the benefits and drawbacks of Office 365/SharePoint Online.

Online SharePoint is like a good off-the-rack suit – it does the job if you are a relatively low-level user. However, like a department store suit, it never fits perfectly enough to feel tailor-made.

The features and functionality limitations may be a deal-breaker for some organizations. For example, Office 365 does not allow for full server control and unrestricted access to customize the online SharePoint environment; it also restricts the maximum number of users to 50 and a number of search features are not included. Because online SharePoint cannot be highly customized, some organizations may eschew it for hosted SharePoint Server 2010, which allows for maximum customization. Organizations weighing the two options should study the service descriptions for each product; they will need to compare carefully the online SharePoint to its on-site counterpart.

Nevertheless, a good business case can be made for deploying Office 365. Among the benefits are:

• Comprehensive. The bundled services are attractive to many smaller organizations for which customization is of little importance.
• Fast. Turn-key configuration and anywhere-access go a long way in the small- to mid-size market.
• Less expensive. Maybe, maybe not. However, it does free an organization from the capital outlays associated with on-premise hosting.

Among the drawbacks:

• Storage. It’s more expensive per gigabyte.
• Service Level Agreement. Microsoft offers a lower SLA than most top-tier hosting companies. They do not guarantee 99.999% uptime.
• Comprehensive. An organization may not need or want all of the features offered – or the cost that comes with it.
• Features/functionality limitations. In comparing the on-site and online versions of SharePoint, an organization might find that the limitations of the latter are a deal-breaker.
• Impersonal hosting relationship. Microsoft is the hosting provider, and it will be challenged to match the rewarding, personalized experience that organizations often have with a smaller hosting provider – one who blends seamlessly into the organization’s own IT staff.
• Loss of flexibility and control. An organization can keep its on-premise infrastructure, and using the hybrid capabilities, still deploy Office 365 in the cloud.

However, if you require a high level of control and customization for SharePoint, you would be better served deploying SharePoint Server 2010 in the cloud. If, in future upgrades, Microsoft chooses to match more closely the features and functionality of online SharePoint to its on-site counterpart, namely SharePoint Server, the incentive to move to Microsoft’s cloud may be even stronger for many organizations. In the meantime, third-party hosting of either SharePoint Foundation 2010 or SharePoint Server 2010 may offer an optimal solution.

Are you using Office 365?  What do you think of it?  Check out our white paper for more information.

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What Is Microsoft Office 365? What Is SharePoint Online? (Part 1 of 2)

January 11th, 2012
Posted by: admin

By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President

In June 2011, Microsoft released Office 365, which is essentially bundled online software hosted in the cloud. Office 365 replaced Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) and bundles together the latest upgrades of its SharePoint, Exchange and Lync Server solutions.  So, when you hear “SharePoint Online,” that means SharePoint as it is presented in Office 365, which is hosted by Microsoft.

Office 365

You'll find SharePoint Online in Office 365. But, will it meet your needs adequately?

The convenient, pay-as-you-grow subscription plan to Office 365 requires that an organization pay Microsoft for only what it uses – per user, per month. The net benefit to an organization’s IT team is that it is relatively turn-key and requires far less administration than an on-premises deployment of the identical suite of applications. Organizations may find comfort in Microsoft’s guaranteed high availability and recoverability and its back-end administration, all of which are backed by a Service Level Agreement.

When evaluating an Office 365 deployment, organizations should be asking four key questions:

• Is Microsoft offering a better value? How much would it cost to run these same solutions on-premise?

• Do we need all of these products?

• Are the limitations of Office 365 a deal-breaker for us or our customers?

• Are my mission-critical applications going to be safe? What security assurances is Microsoft providing?

Office 365 Plans

Office 365 comes in two sizes – one for small businesses and professionals (referred to as Plan P) and one for medium-sized enterprises (referred to as Plans E1, E2, E3, and E4).

Microsoft designed Plan P for smaller organizations, ranging from 1 to 25 employees, with a cost of $6 per user per month. For somewhat larger enterprises, the more flexible series of “E” plans (“E” stands for enterprise) ranges from $10 to $27 dollars per user per month.   Plan P and the four Plan Es are not exclusive to the company size for which they were designed, so a small business could opt for a version of Plan E.

The Office 365 Plan P, according to Microsoft, “brings together online versions of the best business-grade communications and collaboration tools from Microsoft, plus Microsoft Office Web Apps, at a price that small businesses can afford.”  In our recent white paper, “To Cloud or Not to Cloud:  SharePoint 2010 Hosting Options…and Which One Is Right for You,” you will find a chart outlining what each plan does. 

Plan P highlights include:

• Email, calendar, contacts, personal archive, and 25 GB mailbox storage with 25 MB attachments using Exchange Online

• Support for workgroups of up to 50 people

• Online document viewing and basic editing capabilities using Office Web Apps

• Easy access to files from a mobile device using Office Web Apps

• Consistent file formatting from desktop Office to Web versions with Office Web Apps

• Sites to share documents and information with SharePoint Online

• Capability to design/ maintain a professional, public Web site with SharePoint Online

• Instant messaging, presence, online meetings, and PC-to-PC audio/video calls with Lync Online

• Ability to share a desktop with colleagues and partners using Lync Online

• Premium antivirus and anti-spam filtering with Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange

Plan P’s SharePoint emphasizes sharing content rather than collaborative content creation. Collaboration on creating and editing documents with Office Web Apps is “basic.” Plan P assumes that, unlike larger companies, small organizations are less likely to require robust collaboration.

The convenient, pay-as-you-grow subscription plan to Office 365 requires that an organization pay Microsoft for only what it uses – per user, per month. The net benefit to an organization’s IT team is that it is relatively turn-key and requires far less administration than an on-premises deployment of the identical suite of applications. Organizations may find comfort in Microsoft’s guaranteed high availability and recoverability and its back-end administration, all of which are backed by a Service Level Agreement.

Plan E Series

If Plan P feels somewhat light, an organization might consider Microsoft’s Plan E series. Office 365 for medium-sized enterprises is presented in four plans, each with access to some level of SharePoint. Not all four plans come with the same level of SharePoint or other features.  Choosing the optimal plan depends on three questions:

• How much are we willing to spend?

• How much SharePoint do we need and what customization is required?

• What other benefits of Office 365 do we need?

All four “E” series plans feature SharePoint’s ability to access information and documents, however advanced content creation and publishing only come with plans E3 and E4. So, to derive the full benefit of SharePoint through Office 365, an organization must choose either E3 or E4 at a cost of $20 or $27 per user, respectively.

Any thoughts yet?  What is your organization doing?

Come back to this site for Part II, the “Benefits and Drawbacks of Office 365. ” Also, you can download our whitepaper about Office 365 vs. on-premise hosting.

 

 

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Setting Performance and Latency Expectations for International Hosted SharePoint Deployments

January 5th, 2012
Posted by: admin

SharePoint Latency

GUEST BLOG

By Michael V. Velotta
Founder, Intelishift Technologies

Last month, a prospective client asked a very good question related to the performance of his hosted SharePoint deployment.

The hosted SharePoint environment that he currently has deployed across North America, Western Europe and India is very slow.  Latency is an issue – 20 seconds to upload a file.  He wanted to know how he can minimize latency with a hosted SharePoint solution.  In short, he was concerned about performance.

Latency between Washington and Western Europe ranges between 80 milliseconds (ms) and 140 ms, depending on the country and the carriers within the country.  From Western Europe to Chicago, I’ll add 25 ms to that number.

Latency between Washington and India is 250 ms to 280 ms.  The wildcard here, however, is inside India.  India is heavily oversubscribed and a bad carrier could skyrocket the latency to north of 500 ms.  We’ve had a little more success from Fremont (CA) to India and can get the latency down to 200 ms; then we have the in-country latency issue again.

The holy grail (this is what large SharePoint shops do) is to have SharePoint servers at a datacenter “near” their offices: one in Washington, one in India and maybe one in Greece.  Then the SharePoint servers can sync up behind the scenes (or nightly).  The user’s latency problem goes away and the SharePoint servers are left to keep in sync without impacting the user’s experience.

What is your experience with this?  I’d be interested in your comments.

Michael V. Velotta is a technologist and entrepreneur.  He is the founder of Intelishift Technologies, a strategic data center solutions consultant for a diverse set of clients, including high-end technology firms, Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and government agencies.

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