Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and Search Service - sharepoint

We've setup the sharepoint services sites and works nicely. We've also setup multiple sites such as: http://192.168.100.52/, http://192.168.100.52/sites/IT, http://192.168.100.52/sites/Finance and couple other sites under the root.
We've setup the search service as per Ms said BUT my impression that when you search you only search within site that you are on so it can't not search a global search. How do I achieve this? From what I heard this is a limitation of WSS, correct? I've also heard that there is another Ms Search Server service that allow to do this. Is this right?
BTW ... we are using WSS 3.0 not SPPS 2007.
I am appreciated your comment.
Thanks

This is indeed a limitation of WSS, for full blown cross sitecollection search you need MOSS. There are some workarounds (like this) and third part tools (KwizCom). Also it is possible to "upgrade" your wss 3.0 installation to Search Server 2008, as per this Technet article.

You can setup a Search Server Express outside the WSS. Then in SSE admin create an index that includes the WSS sites. Finally, create a WSS site called "our company global search" and use it for the cross-wss site searches.
Other than that WSS will only give you search option of searching the currrent site and below.

Related

Microsoft Search server without SharePoint

I am trying to make a kind of 'faceted search' in ASP.NET and am looking for good ways to filter data. That's why I have the following question:
Is it possible to use FAST search on a SQL database using Microsoft Search Server 2010 without using SharePoint? (in other words: can a SQL DB be a content source for the search?) I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this anywhere.
I have found this on the MS website:
The following connectors come out of the box in Search Server 2010
Express and SharePoint Server 2010:
SharePoint sites
Windows file shares
Exchange public folders
Lotus Notes
Web sites
IFilters for additional repositories
Structured content in databases
Federation object model
I would like to be sure that it 'can' work before I start messing around with it.
You will need to install SharePoint Foundation (free version), as well as install the cumulative updates/service packs to install and configure the Secure Store Service. From there, you can use Business Connectivity Services to model your database and present it to Search Server Express. FAST Search is another product altogether and would require additional software installation and configuration.

Sharepoint: how long would it take to add document management to an ASP.NET site?

I am an experienced ASP.NET C# developer who is investigating using Sharepoint for document management for one of my clients. They want an intranet site with blogs and other stuff in addition but this will need to adhere to their brand guidelines.
Apart from the faff of setting up a working development environment to what extent do you get document management 'out of the box' with just using Windows Sharepoint Services? (the client understandably would rather not line Microsoft pockets further if possible)
Or put another way, how long would it take to add document management to an ASP.NET site?
Thanks
Oliver
WSS will give you all the document management capabilities that you need. If you pair it up with Search Server Express (which is also free), youget a complete solution for zero investment. We've even based a company portal of a major corporation on that. Doing it yourself in ASP.NET is a waste of time to say the least. The SharePoint platform gives you an enourmous value and the learning curve is actually not that tough
You definitely don't want to go and implement something like this yourself when a freely available (and powerful) solution like Windows SharePoint Services already exists. For most requirements I'd say the features in WSS are enough, but it really depends on what your client is looking for. For example you get:
Support for versions of documents
Exclusive check-out
Management of content types
Integration with Office applications
Meta-data
If you need to support records management scenarios, then you'd need features found in the SharePoint Server product. I'd start with WSS and see how far that gets you.
I would highly recommend looking at SharePoint Foundation 2010 over Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. It's the latest version of the basic SharePoint infrastructure (with the obligatory name change!).
SharePoint Foundation 2010 is a lot easier to work than WSS in terms of deployment, management and, especially, development. Plus there are new features in Foundation that you can start using.
Don't forget that SharePoint Designer 2010 is also free and is a great tool for customizing SharePoint.
Some links to get you going:
Download SharePoint Foundation 2010
Get Started Developing on SharePoint 2010

Upgrading WSS 3 and Ms Search Server 2008 Express

I've managed to do the upgrade the Ms Search Server 2008 Express in conjuction with WSS 3 SP1.
According to the http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc297193.aspx - "Configure site collections to use the Search Center" section, I think I am missing the procedure to use this.
It said that I need to have different URL (See: 4.Type the address of your Search Center in the text box, for example, http://servername:port.)
So what did I miss here? At the moment, my search seems ok but I don't think I am using the right interface.
Any ideas?
When you installed Search Server, did it provision a Search Center?
Because that is where you need to point all site collections' search to.
When you do a search it will append ?k=yourkeyword to the url. (at least that's how it works in MOSS, should be the same here)

Is it possible to create a SharePoint internet site?

I want to use a CMS that can be accessed by my clients via the internet. All SharePoint usage I have seen is for intranet sites only. What I am looking to do:
Landing page for all clients, with general information.
Client login to client specific portal page with client specific information.
Accessible via the internet. The clients may or may not have SharePoint.
General and client specific wikis.
I won't be hosting this myself. I would be looking for a hosting provider as well.
I am also looking at using DotNetNuke, which has a lower cost of entry. I am open to suggestions of other CMSs, but my skills are built around C# and ASP.NET.
Before going down the SharePoint path, I wanted to make sure these things are possible.
Thanks!
Update:
Thanks to all that have given me some points to ponder. In summary, here is what I have decided to do (given my current skill set):
SharePoint can be used for my needs (my initial question). Many great example sites.
DotNetNuke as my CMS. I realize other good CMSs are available, but I prefer to stick to the Microsoft stack.
Branding will be easier in DotNetNuke.
The site will not be very big and not used by many. SharePoint will be overkill at this point.
Many of the 'modules' I am looking to use (wiki, forum, ...) seem to have more options/maturity using DotNetNuke.
Biggest Deciding Factor
Integrating a CMS solution with my software product and then installing/implementing this solution for individual clients will have a much larger cost with SharePoint. DotNetNuke will allow me to 'leave behind' the solution with the client without having them to invest heavily in SharePoint if they do not already own it.
Thanks to all!
Ed
Everything you require is supported by Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, which is included at no additional cost with a Windows Server license. However, SharePoint does have an administrative and development overhead that you could avoid using a different platform. It doesn't sound like you would really be leveraging any of SharePoint's particular strengths (document management, Office client integration, ad hoc collaboration sites, etc), so it's probably not worth the extra effort.
So in short, the answer to your question is "Yes", but it's probably not your best option with these specific requirements.
Check out the Top 17 case studies for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and several new MOSS-based web sites. There are some nice Internet websites too.
there are heaps of SharePoint sites out there facing the internet. There’s a great list of over 1,000 of them on the WSS Demo site here: http://www.wssdemo.com/Pages/websites.aspx
All of the requirements you’ve listed are achievable with the externally facing SharePoint model. There’s an obvious cost impact of going down the SharePoint path versus DotNetNuke but it’s certainly achievable in terms of functionality.
Kentico offers SharePoint Connector which allows to publish SharePoint content to external sites: http://www.kentico.com/cms-asp-net-features/sharepoint.aspx
All the things you mentioned are possible. Note that hosting a SharePoint server can be expensive. Most hosting providers charge you a dedicated server hosting plan.
Also I'm not impressed with the default wiki solution in SharePoint. You might want to consider a 3th party wiki tool and point your SharePoint Search towards it so that the results are shown in your search results. Drawback is that you loose the security trimming.
You might also be interested in the BPOS solution. A (kind of) hosting service for SharePoint that Microsoft is offering.

Windows SharePoint Services vs. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server?

There's Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and then there is Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS). MOSS considerably more expensive than WSS (which ships as part of Microsoft Server licensing).
My question is: what does MOSS do that makes it worth the extra cost?
..and does Microsoft Search Server not compete with the Business Data Cache (BDC)?
Edit: The feature comparision page is helpful in illustrating the numerous features that MOSS has and WSS does not. By the looks of it, most of MOSS's feature set is Enterprise oriented.
How would you describe the differences (or additional benefits) of MOSS over WSS in a couple of sentences? In essence, what are the "big ticket" items in MOSS (and not in WSS)?
Don't assume that WSS is free in all deployment scenarios. We got a nice wake up call when we deployed WSS in a client-facing extranet configuration. One "main site" w/ a bunch of segregated, client sub-sites. Turns out we needed to buy an "intranet license" (can't remember the exact name) for the OS. This is different from the SharePoint internet connector - it actually lets you use Win 2003 w/ an unlimited number of internet users. Not hugely expensive, but it was a couple thousand dollars we weren't expecting on paying...
About WSS vs MOSS:
WSS in not a portal, it's only a collaborative plateform (there are no publishing features in WSS)
MOSS allows you to use user profils, not WSS
Search functionalities are cheap in WSS compare to MOSS (but you can extend them using Search Server Express)
Many others: Infopath, BDC, Additional WebParts, Additional site and list templates
About Search Server and BDC: They do not compete.
Search Server is the MOSS search engine striped out. So you have only search functionalities (you can index SharePoint, WebSite, FileSystem).
The BDC (Business Data Catalog) allows you to view an external business data source, such as a SQL database (not necessarily SQL Server, it can be Oracle, MySQL....) or webservices. You'll be able to view data in your portal, and integrate this data to any of your list.
The BDC also allows you to index this content source if you have SharePoint Enterprise Edition.
Whether it's worth the extra cost really depends on how many of the added features MOSS brings to the table that you're actually going to use.
The following comparison page by Microsoft will definitely help to answer your question.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Edition Comparison
There is a lot built in to WSS but MOSS has a ton of extra stuff as referenced in the other answer.
On the second part of your question.. Search server and Business Data Connector are quite different.. Search server is about finding things... BDC is about merging datasources to be able to use them easily in sharepoint or in connected excel sheets etc.. The focus is on what is being delivered-- search results or data.
I would say if you just need a few collaboration sites for a few internal groups, then wss is just fine. It is when you start using SharePoint for enterprise level applications and as a primary platform for development that you should consider MOSS.

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