sharepoint articles

SSP (Shared Service Provider)

2008-09-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

What is a Shared Service Provider?

In MOSS 2007 there is this new concept of Shared Services Providers(SSP). The idea being that there are certain services that really make sense to centrally manage and share like User profiles. With a SSP we can import all of the profile information from AD once and then our various web applications can consume the data. So maybe we have http://marketing and http://accounting it doesn't make sense for each one to maintain identical profile information, they should share.
The major services that are handled by the SSP are:
• Profiles and Audiences
• My Sites
• Search
• All of Excel Services
• All of the BDC (Business Data Catalog)
Below is an example screen shot from MOSS 2007 Enterprise:

Sometimes the easiest way to think of Shared Services is the Parent vs. Child relationship. The Parent (your SSP) goes out and does all of the work (pulling BDC data, indexing content, hosting My Sites) and the child (your web applications) come to the parents to ask for $5 (request data from the BDC, or view a calculated Excel sheet). Does that help?
Multiple SSPs
One of the most overwhelming things about SSPs for some people planning is how many should I have? It is easy to see from the interface that you are given the opportunity to create more than one. When should you do this?
As a general rule of thumb most companies will use one SSP. This is my default answer. So why do they give you the ability to run multiple SSPs? There are cases where you want separate search or profiles. The most common? Extranet/internet scenarios. Maybe your SharePoint farm hosts two primary web applications. http://portal for your intranet and http://ourcustomers for your extranet. In this scenario you probably want separate search and profiles. And now you have found the reason to have multiple SSPs. You don't want to share information you want unique information for both.
Another advantage of SSPs
Separation of roles. In some medium and large environments it is not uncommon to have one group administering the physical server farm while another group needs to just maintain search. Well the SSP concept makes this very easy. Since the SSP is its own SharePoint site collection you can define a users access so they can NOT access central administration but they CAN access the SSP. And once they get into the SSP you can even limit them. Once inside the SSP you can determine if they can:
Manage user profiles
Manage audiences
Manage permissions
Manage usage analytics
Best I can tell if you give them access to the SSP all of the other SSP functions they will have rights to. Guess it needs more testing.
Still this separation of services from the actual administration of the server can be quite useful. Epically in companies where the less access I give a user the better.

Product Guide

2008-02-28T04:55:00.000-08:00

This product guide provides an overview of SharePoint Server 2007, with an emphasis on new and improved features. It also takes a close look at SharePoint Server 2007 in action, demonstrating its exciting new capabilities. Download this document to learn more about SharePoint Server 2007.

SharePoint Portal

2008-02-28T01:00:00.000-08:00

Portals
Portal sites connect your people to business critical information, expertise, and applications. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is a world class Enterprise Portal platform that makes it easy to build and maintain portal sites for every aspect of your business.
Connect your people to information and expertise
Quick, easy access to critical information and expertise means better decisions and more rigorous execution.
Connect your people to key business applications
Consolidated access to existing business applications drives consistent performance of common business tasks. Streamlined development of new composite applications can lead to order of magnitude improvements in important business processes.
Connect your people to role-specific resources
Personalized information delivery increases the relevance and value of information.
Learn more about these Portals Features.
Highlighted Topics
Introduction to My SiteMy Site is a personal site that gives users a central location to aggregate information "for me," "by me," and "about me." This page includes an overview of My Site and the different ways you can use it to manage and store your documents, content, links, and contacts.
Role-Based Templates for SharePoint My SitesThese are custom templates, designed for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the My Site functionality, and tailored to address the unique needs and requirements of specific roles within an organization. This page includes additional information about each template and how to download them for free.
Community Kit for SharePointThe Community Kit for SharePoint is a set of best practices, templates, Web Parts, tools, and source code that enables practically anyone to create a community website based on SharePoint technology for practically any group of people with a common interest.
MSDN Library: What Are Composite Applications?A composite application is a collection of software assets that have been assembled to provide a business capability. This MSDN white paper will introduce the notion of composite applications as an architectural pattern to provide the right platform for enabling composition that is contextual, collaborative, easy-to-use, role-based, and configurable.
Resources for Interoperability with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) provides enterprises with a scalable business platform for managing content and integrating line of business systems.
Webcasts
Developer-Oriented Videos on Building PortalsDownload this series of videos from Microsoft Office System Developers Conference 2006 to view breakout sessions about building custom portal interfaces, providing personalized views, and aggregating connections to line-of-business data.
Find more Webcasts and Events.
Related News and Reviews
SharePoint Server 2007 Taking Leads in Collaboration Business Software MarketApril 24, 2007: The Wall Street Journal Online, Robert A. GuthMiami-Dade County Public Schools created a SharePoint application to help students and teachers collaborate, with over 50,000 students accessing the system within the first two months. (Subscription required for full WSJ.com article)
Microsoft cures its connectile dysfunction: Redmond has injected SharePoint with a potent collaboration boost