2 min read
Uncategorized
When SharePoint 2013 stops following sites after patching
A patched profile service can leave the follow button looking healthy while the request fails underneath it.
The complete index
The whole notebook, one entry at a time.
Forty four field notes across seven calendar years. Filter by topic, year or a phrase that you remember from the work.
2 min read
Conferences / SharePoint 2013 / SharePoint 2016
Cloud search reaches the on premises SharePoint farm
The most interesting search announcement of 2015 was not a bigger index. It was an index shared between two worlds.
2 min read
Uncategorized
What the Azure SharePoint farm template really gives you
A few clicks can produce a working farm. They cannot decide whether that farm belongs in production.
2 min read
SharePoint 2007 / SharePoint 2010 / SharePoint 2013 / Tools
A practical ULS reading kit for SharePoint
The old log viewer disappeared, but the diagnostic habit it supported is still worth keeping.
2 min read
Uncategorized
What stayed with me after the 2014 SharePoint conference
The slides fade quickly. The useful residue is a short list of changes that affect how a farm is designed and operated.
2 min read
Architecture / SharePoint 2013
Host named site collections and MySites in SharePoint 2013
A cleaner URL model is worth having when the boundary between the farm and its identity service is planned deliberately.
2 min read
ADFS / SharePoint 2010
Renewing an ADFS token signing certificate for SharePoint
A certificate renewal is a short task with a long blast radius. The preparation decides whether anyone notices.
2 min read
Uncategorized
When BitLocker encrypts only part of a volume
Encryption can turn a recoverable disk problem into an unrecoverable one. The backup comes first.
2 min read
SharePoint 2013
Automating Active Directory import for the SharePoint profile service
The profile sync engine is easier to trust when its setup is scripted and repeatable.
2 min read
SharePoint 2013
Why I leave SharePoint 2013 shredded storage alone
A setting can be changed without being a good idea. This one is usually best left at its default.
2 min read
Conferences / Presentations / Search / SharePoint 2013
A search talk for the SharePoint UK community
Search is an operations story disguised as a product feature. That was the argument I took to SPSUK.
2 min read
Networking / Virtualisation
A Realtek network problem and an ICS workaround for Hyper V
Virtual switches expose the difference between a driver that works for a desktop and one that behaves under load.
2 min read
Uncategorized
A missing personal certificate blocks Lync 2010 sign in
The error names a certificate, but the useful work begins with the account and the certificate store it can see.
2 min read
SQL / Uncategorized
SQL max memory is a buffer pool limit, not a total
The number in the memory setting controls less than many administrators assume, and that gap matters on a busy server.
2 min read
Architecture / SharePoint 2010 / SharePoint 2013
A working map of SharePoint 2010 and 2013 admin URLs
Knowing the right administrative path saves time, but only when you also know which web application it belongs to.
2 min read
Certifications (MCTS/MCITP) / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Exam 70 667 notes, part four: the final revision pass
The last stage of exam preparation is not about learning more. It is about finding the gaps that practice keeps exposing.
2 min read
Windows 8
Windows 8 setup fails from an ISO with error 0x80070570
An installation error that appears during file expansion often points to the installation media before it points to the PC.
2 min read
Windows 8
When Windows 8 setup says the processor is not compatible
The message sounds final. The explanation may be a firmware feature or a virtual machine setting that can be changed.
2 min read
Conferences / SharePoint 2010
What the ISC London conversations left me thinking about
The most useful conference material was not a quotation. It was the set of assumptions the room kept testing.
2 min read
SharePoint 2010 / SQL / Uncategorized
A correction on SharePoint, SQL fill factor and index rebuilds
A confident recommendation can travel further than the evidence behind it. This note is about the repair.
2 min read
Networking
Subnets and VLANs for simple SharePoint network isolation
Segmentation is a security and operations tool. It becomes useful when the rules are drawn as clearly as the diagram.
2 min read
Architecture / Conferences / Presentations / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
A session on avoiding avoidable farm failures
The best disaster recovery talk is often a list of ordinary decisions that prevent the disaster.
2 min read
Hardware
Finding NUMA boundaries on modern server processors
Core count is a headline. Memory locality is the detail that decides whether those cores work together efficiently.
2 min read
Architecture / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
A short video guide to host named site collections
When a concept is mostly about boundaries, a diagram and a short demonstration can be clearer than a long definition.
2 min read
Conferences / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Taking an IT pro session to SharePoint Saturday UK
A community session is a conversation with a room, not a product demonstration with an audience attached.
2 min read
Architecture / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Content database sizing after SharePoint 2010 SP1
A support limit is not a performance target. The gap between the two is where most sizing arguments begin.
2 min read
Certifications (MCTS/MCITP) / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Exam 70 667 notes, part three: service applications
Service applications are easier to remember when they are understood as boundaries and dependencies rather than a list of names.
2 min read
SharePoint 2010 / Top 10
Ten operational habits that make SharePoint harder
Most self inflicted farm problems are not dramatic. They are small shortcuts that become permanent assumptions.
2 min read
Conferences / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Field notes from the European Best Practices Conference
The best sessions did not offer a universal recipe. They showed how experienced teams reason when the recipe runs out.
2 min read
Certifications (MCTS/MCITP) / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Exam 70 667 notes, part two: configuration practice
Reading about a configuration screen is not the same as using it. The second stage is a lab with a purpose.
2 min read
Search / SharePoint 2007
Search crawls need a budget, even in SharePoint 2007
A full crawl is not a maintenance button. It is a large read of the content estate with a cost that must be planned.
2 min read
Architecture / SharePoint 2010
Keeping the SharePoint web application count under control
Every web application adds a boundary, a pool and a set of dependencies. Some boundaries are worth it. Many are not.
2 min read
Certifications (MCTS/MCITP) / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Exam 70 667 notes, part one: building the study map
A certification is easier to approach when the syllabus becomes a map of decisions rather than a wall of topics.
2 min read
Certifications (MCTS/MCITP) / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
What passing the SharePoint 2010 configuration exam taught me
The certificate was a milestone. The useful outcome was a sharper map of the work I did every day.
2 min read
PowerShell / SharePoint 2010 / Upgrading
Two Psconfig upgrade paths and when each one fits
The upgrade command has more than one shape. The choice depends on what kind of change the farm needs.
2 min read
IIS / Security / SharePoint 2010
NTLM, keep alive connections and the 401.1 loop
An authentication prompt that never resolves can be a connection behaviour problem hiding behind a credential problem.
2 min read
Conferences / Presentations / SharePoint 2010
The useful parts of SPSUK 2010, after the slides
The session notes that survive are the ones that change a decision in the following month.
2 min read
Networking / SharePoint 2010 / WAN Considerations
Why a SharePoint farm feels slow across a WAN
Bandwidth is the number people quote. Latency and round trips are the numbers that explain the experience.
2 min read
Disaster Recovery / SharePoint 2010
A farm record is a recovery tool, not paperwork
The most useful document during an incident is the one that explains how the environment was built and what changed.
2 min read
PowerShell / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
PowerShell habits that made SharePoint administration repeatable
The useful scripts were not the clever ones. They were the ones another administrator could read and run safely.
2 min read
Content Deployment / SharePoint 2010 / Uncategorized
Content deployment: a narrow tool with a clear job
It moves published content between environments. It is not a general purpose replication service, and it works best when treated that way.
2 min read
ISA / TMG / Uncategorized
Publishing SharePoint 2010 through ISA Server 2006 SP1
A reverse proxy sits between the user and the farm. Every rule it applies becomes part of the application experience.
2 min read
SharePoint 2010 / SQL
Leave SQL autogrowth enabled, but make it predictable
Turning off a safety net is not a capacity plan. A sensible growth increment and a monitoring routine are better controls.
2 min read
SharePoint 2010 / Upgrading
Choosing a SharePoint 2010 upgrade path on a napkin
A decision tree is useful when it makes the trade offs visible before the project has committed to a method.
No notes match that combination. Clear a filter and try again.