Don't be caught without a SharePoint recovery solution
Having a solid data protection plan for SharePoint is an absolute must. Here's how to put one in place
Follow @JPBruzzeseSharePoint is being deployed in more organizations each year. In fact, it has become for many companies a mission-critical solution because it provides such capabilities as wiki, blog, document library, photo gallery, and more, thus comprising a collaboration hot spot.
The amount of SharePoint data grows incredibly fast because additions come not from a single person but rather, from members of your workgroups. Announcements, links, documents, tasks -- they stream into the server from everyone in the organization with contribution permissions. Like Public Folders for Exchange, SharePoint has become a dumping ground for all sorts of content. And it must be protected.
Backing up SharePoint is not difficult. But restoring it is.
[ Read the InfoWorld Test Center's review of SharePoint Server 2007. And get an early look at SharePoint 2010. ]
Behind the scenes, SharePoint is composed of IIS (Internet Information Server) configurations and a set of SQL databases: Farm Configuration, Administrator Content, Shared Service Providers Configuration, Search, Web Application Content, and more. All the information on the SharePoint site resides in those databases.
SharePoint has a built-in backup utility, but it has limitations, especially around recovery. Before I explain how to deal with those limitations, let's consider the levels of data recovery you want to prepare for: content, site, and disaster.
