Sharepoint 2010 foundation datastore

Question

Hi Guys

I know that Sharepoint foundation will work with SQL express edition, but does that mean my documents will  be stored in the database or will its location be referenced.

Thanks

Kimmy

Answer 1

Documents are by default stored in content databases unless you will utilize RBS provider http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee748607.aspx

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Marek Chmel, WBI Systems (MCTS, MCITP, MCT, CCNA)
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Answer 2

Hi Kimmy.

It's like Marek says so he has given you the answer, in addition to that, it is worth to know that there is no difference between SharePoint Foundation/SQL express and SharePoint Server/SQL Server in terms of how or where content is stored. A content database in Foundation/Express is the same as a content DB in Server/Server.

The differences are found in limitations in capacity and features, not in architecture or basic functionality. If you start out with Foundation, you can move the content databases to a SharePoint server environment at a later time.
Also worth to know, you can run Foundation on full SQL Server as well as Full SharePoint Server on Express.

Regards

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Thomas Balkeståhl - Technical Specialist - SharePoint - http://blog.blksthl.com
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Answer 3

Thank you, does it mean I can only store 4 GB of documents in SQL express edition

Answer 4

You may be referring to interesting behavior during an upgrade from WID/WSS 3.0 to SPF/SQL Express. In WID/WSS 3.0 there was no size limitation, but in SPF/SQL Express there is. So during an upgrade, if the WID is larger than 4 GB it will automatically enable RBS and store the documents outside of the database as so not to violate the 4 GB limit. I think in 2012 its now 10 GB.

see here for details

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff384151.aspx

Note that this is not a free lunch. Each item is approx 10K so a 10 GB content database in SPF really cannot contain more than 1,000,000 items, probably in reality only a fraction of that size with auditing and workflows and etc.

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Answer 5

By default SharePoint Foundation with basic installation is using SQL Express Edition, which has a limit of 4GB per database. But you can create more site collections http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263165.aspx where every site collection can have its own database. So it does not mean, you can store 4GB of documents in your SharePoint Foundation installation.

Also, as already mentioned here, you can enable RBS provider, which will store LOBs outside your database and this will allow you to store much more documents in your system, even if you will use only one content database.

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Marek Chmel, WBI Systems (MCTS, MCITP, MCT, CCNA)
Please Mark As Answer if my post solves your problem or Vote As Helpful if a post has been helpful for you.