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Head in the clouds – Tech team Blog
On premise vs hosted SharePoint
January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A view for NHS trusts
We often get asked about appropriate server infrastructure for SharePoint (a 3 tier solution comprising web front end, application server and SQL server, doubled up if you want resiliency – thanks for asking) and this sometimes leads on to whether it can be hosted or even whether a cloud solution can be used.
Here are some considerations: [Read more...]
Get a pocket computer, try to do what you used to do, yeah
January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
These prophetic words come from Blondie’s 1978 Parallel Lines album (one of the all-time great albums by the way – if you haven’t got it then shame on you).
Picture This - Parallel Lines
In fact the preceding lines are just as prescient:
“Picture this, my telephone number
One and one is what I’m telling you
Get a pocket computer
Try to do what you used to do, yeah”
This was 1978. The year Epson introduced the TX-80, the first successful dot matrix printer. The year the 5.25-inch floppy disk became an industry standard. Apple (I do believe I have heard of them) introduced Apple DOS 3.1, their first operating system.
It preceded the Intel 8088 CPU (released on June 1, 1979), the first commercial version of SQL (thank you Oracle), the Motorola 6800 8-bit processor (which powered the Mac and my beloved Atari 1040ST) and VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet program). It was just over a year after the release of the Commodore PET (which I had to program in raw machine code to run heat capacity equations as fast as I needed), the Apple II and Tandy’s TRS-80 (first pocket computer, 1.9 kB of programmable memory). DOS and the PC are 3 years in the future.
Commodore PET, 1977
Yet as I sit here, talking tech with the enthusiasts in Hull Digital, I am struck that in my pocket sits a computer with my telephone number (but regrettably not Debbie Harry’s). Picture this, it holds a local gallery of my personal photographs, a camera to take more and access to Flickr etc. to browse further millions. All the power and flexibility to do what I used to do and so much more besides… including listening to Parallel Lines whenever I feel the urge.
I seamlessly switch between my pocket computer, my slate computer and my laptop. My content, my knowledge, my entertainment, my friends are accessible from all of them. The tools each contains are unimaginably capable; the capabilities are limited only by our imaginations. And there’s more to come.
Thank you Blondie for your glimpse of the future, so many years ago. Where to from here?
Get a pocket computer, try to do what you used to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxVEH1eSOA
http://www.computerhope.com/history/196080.htm
Microsoft Releases SP3 for Office & SharePoint 2007
November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Microsoft have released the third and potentially the last service pack for Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007.
Microsoft said in early October that Service Pack 3 (SP3) would be “likely final” for both Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007, which are scheduled to lose “mainstream support” in April 2012. During the mainstream support period, users have access to free product support as well as security and non-security updates.
After losing mainstream support next April, Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007 will enter a five-year period of “extended support,” during which users can still receive security updates, but non-security updates will require a paid contract with Microsoft.
For more information, read the full article on RCP here.
SharePoint 2010 SP1 – More reviews
July 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We’ve already talked about some of the features included in the SP1 update; here’s some more coverage on what it can do. In addition to including every update up to this point, it also includes a number of key enhancements to the SharePoint platform.
Remote Backup Systems (RBS) and shallow copy can decrease downtime and increase efficiency by moving pointers to databases instead of moving databases.
Recycle bin and backup / restore capabilities: You can restore a site collection that was previously deleted. SharePoint in-box recovery capabilities have been lacking in this respect for some time, and this plugs that gap.
With the improved Storage management feature, you can clearly see which folders are taking up valuable space. The ability to see storage allocation allows you to see how you can reallocate storage within content databases, or where content could be moved and stored in archives.
Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2011.
A more powerful Search Host Distribution service
You can download the Service Pack here
Here is the full Service Pack fix log
Known issues with SharePoint 2010 SP1:
What is 'The Cloud'?
June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I often hear people say ‘cloud’ is just another form of hosting – and they are right, but not in the negative way they usually imply. Proper ‘cloud’ computing is a different kind of hosting…
A definition
By my definitinon, ‘cloud’ is different from just renting some hosting space or even buying a managed service and it has to have one of the following attributes to qualify as ‘cloud’ and be other than ‘just hosting’:
- Ability to scale the infrastructure up and down on demand, only paying for what you use. So if I need to run a major launch and I know the IT side will be under massive load I can simply dial up the number/performance of the servers involved, then turn it all down again in a week when the peak has passed. The important thing here is that I haven’t had to lay out for a dozen extra servers to cope with the peak that then sit idle for the rest of the time. One provider we use allows you to do this within 15 minutes from your phone – usually you can’t even find the right person to speak to that quickly in a traditional hosting arrangement.
- Ability to have a service based pricing model – so you pay for just what you use; whether that is per person, per minute, per transaction or whatever. This is sometimes referred to as Utility pricing.
- Ability to have the IT infrastructure and management remain invisible to the client. You don’t have to know how it works, where it is, how it is managed; just that it works, that there is a suitable SLA and appropriate safeguards.
Note that I haven’t stated that this has to be on the internet. ‘Clouds’ often are, but on-premise clouds are also common in large organisations, as are shared private clouds amongst cooperative organisations.
Also it isn’t necessarily reliant on virtualisation, though that is commonly one of the components of a ‘cloud’ platform.
I’m not claiming this as the only definition, but it’s one I use. I’m also not claiming the ‘cloud’ as a panacea, but it can be a useful tool in many circumstances.
And, despite our name, we don’t actually sell cloud services (yet – but ask about our SharePoint Application Platform technology)
