1. SQL + SharePoint: Friends Forever
William Assaf
Kevin Grohoske
Sparkhound
SLIDE PURPOSE: This is where everything starts – us defining with our customers how we can make an impact in their business regardless of the technology!
SPIEL: Technology should be transformative, not a to-do list. Because, really, just about any firm can change the way your IT works. Our mission is for IT to change the way your business works. The difference is a game-changer.

2. Why?
Microsoft SQL Server instances which host SharePoint databases are very similar to other instances, and need the same attention. We will discuss common SharePoint database configuration and maintenance needs. This introductory-level presentation is geared towards the basics of administration in existing environments.

3. Bios and Contact SQLSaturday Baton Rouge 2017: July 29!
William D Assaf, MCSE
Principal Consultant, DBA Manager
Sparkhound Inc.,
SQL PASS Regional Mentor South Central
Kevin Grohoske
Enterprise Applications Principal Consultant
Sparkhound Inc.,
Twitter:
SQLSaturday Baton Rouge 2017: July 29!

4. SQL Best Practices for SharePoint + SharePoint Best Practices in SQL

5. SQL Best Practices for SharePoint

6. The Number One Emergency Call
“Help, my SQL Server has filled up the drive!” Why does this happen? Only one real reason ever exists – a SQL Server Transaction Log file has grown unchecked.

7. The Transaction Log Windows sees 1GB file SQL sees 1GB reservation
with ~1GB free
Windows sees
1GB file
SQL has used up the space, the file must grow
Transactions
+10%
Transactions
+10%
Transactions
Windows sees
1.1GB file
SQL sees
1GB reservation
with ~.1GB free
Windows sees
1.21GB file
SQL sees
1GB reservation
with ~.11GB free
Transactions
Transactions
Transactions
Transactions
.LDF file

8. Database Recovery Model and the Transaction Log
Simple
Transactions quickly, automatically cleared from the T-Log
No T-Log backups
No Point in Time Recovery (Full/Diff backups only)
Full
Transactions stay in T- Log until truncated
T-Log backups taken regularly –or– T-Log will grow unchecked!
Point in Time recovery is possible and desirable

9. The Transaction Log Windows sees 1GB file
A transaction log backup occurs
Transactions are copied to a backup, T-Log is emptied
Windows sees
1GB file
SQL sees
1GB reservation
with ~1GB free
Windows sees
1 GB file
SQL Server activity begins to fill up the transaction log again
Transactions
Transactions
Transactions
Transactions
Transactions
.LDF file

10. SharePoint Database Recovery Models
These database should be in SIMPLE recovery mode.
Nightly full backups are still necessary.
Config databases, Search and Crawl databases, Usage and Health Data Collection database,
SharePoint Profile-related databases,
and SQL Server system databases

11. SharePoint Database Recovery Models
All other databases,
including Content DB's,
and the Secure Store,
should be in FULL recovery mode.
Nightly full backups plus
at least hourly tran log backups are necessary.
T-log backups can be taken as fast as storage can handle (every minute?) and should match or beat business data loss tolerance goals.

12. SQL Server Alignment
Host no other databases or applications on the Windows Server that hosts the SQL Server instance, including other SharePoint farm features
Configure each of these on separate volumes (these can be moved, transparent to SharePoint):
Operating System (C:)
SQL Server Data Files and system databases
SQL Server Log Files
SQL Server TempDB (fastest available)
SQL Server and SharePoint backups

13. Database File Locations
SharePoint creates SQL Server databases dynamically, and will use the SQL Server default database file locations in Server Properties.
Moving existing databases is fairly straightforward:
Drop the content db from web application (stopping all connections, or manually kill all connections)
Detach, move, re-attach database
Re-attach the content db to the web application

14. SharePoint SQL Server Properties
Max Degree of Parallelism should be set to 1
Max Server Memory should be set appropriately

15. SharePoint SQL Server Properties
Appropriate SQL Server instance memory
Total Server Memory minus 2gb or 10%, whichever is larger.
For a server with 10gb of RAM:

16. SharePoint Database Settings
Auto Create Statistics on each database should be FALSE
These settings should also never be enabled on ANY SQL Server database:
Auto_Close
Auto_Shrink
NEVER!

17. Disaster Recovery Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
Point in Time to restore
Defined by Data Loss Tolerance
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
Amount of time before System or Application should be restored, different for each
Allows IT to prioritize recovery and budget

18. SQL Server Disaster Recovery
SQL must back up SQL
The transaction log is a big reason and benefit of this
Offsite the Backups ASAP
No DR solution without a copy to another location
You must back up the System Databases too:
Master, Model and MSDB databases must be backed up!
SAN Replication, VM Server snapshots, VM backups are useful and complimentary but not a replacement for recovery from corruption disasters, for point in time recovery, or for SQL instance recovery.

19. SQL Server TempDB
The highest-activity database files on your SQL Server instance will be in the TempDB data file.
The TempDB data file(s) should be on the fastest possible storage (SSD)
Myth: create TempDB data files equal to the number of logical CPU cores

20. SQL Server TempDB
Fact: create multiple TempDB data files, but probably no more than half of the number of logical CPU cores.
There is no simple rule.
All the TempDB data files must be the same size and have the same autogrowth settings.
New in SQL 2016:
SQL Server setup will automatically suggest a configuration for TempDB data files based on the number of processors, up to 8. This is certainly better than 1 tempdb data file, but if you have a less than stellar storage system, it could harm performance.

21. Also New in SQL 2016
In SQL 2016 SP1, a large number of Enterprise-edition features were moved down to the Standard edition, including:
Transparent Data Encryption
SQL audit
Columnstore indexes
Database snapshots
Always Encrypted
Data Compression
(Backup compression was already available and highly recommended)
SQL Server 2016 is supported by SharePoint
SQL Server 2010 supports up to SQL Server 2014.

22. Compression Backup Compression Data Compression
As of SQL 2008 R2 - this is now a Standard edition feature
Data Compression
Applied directly to table/index, transparent to the application
Can benefit performance –stays compressed in memory!
Also Enterprise only, or SQL Server 2016 SP1 Standard Edition+
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
TDE conflicts with Backup Compression (in a bad way) prior to SQL 2014

23. Basic SQL Maintenance Plan
Database and T-Log Backups
Can’t do Site Collection Backups at the SQL Server level, can do them in Central Administration or PowerShell.
Check database integrity
Do not Shrink on a schedule! Ever!
In SharePoint 2013+, probably don’t need:
Rebuild Indexes (ONLINE) -or- Reorganize Indexes + Update Statistics
Health Analyzer will monitor index statistics and automatically “repair” by updating statistics.

24. Reporting Services
SSRS is a SQL Server feature included with the SQL license for serving Enterprise-scale web-based reports.
Two install options:
Standalone – operates as its own webserver, at scale should have its own Windows Server.
SharePoint integrated (SharePoint only) – operates inside the farm as a Web Application
Requires also installing the Reporting Services Add-in
Both support scale-out for round-robin report serving.

25. Reporting Services
Should I use SSRS native or SSRS in SharePoint integrated mode? Consider security.
Standalone SSRS is secured separately from everything else via Windows Auth Groups in SSRS Report Manager.
SharePoint Integrated SSRS is secured with SharePoint credentials.
Anonymous access is not possible.
Do you already have investment in SharePoint security infrastructure?

26. AlwaysOn Availability Groups
Starting with SQL 2012 Enterprise, Availability Groups are an excellent marriage of Database Mirroring and Clustering to provide:
Multiple database nodes, each with their own async/sync options
Wide geography WAN synchronization is easy
Manual or automatic failover
Read-only secondary mirrors
Third SQL Server can serve as a listener to provide redirection and failover if desired

27. AlwaysOn Availability Groups
With SharePoint, Availability Groups should really only be set up to synchronize Content Databases between 2+ distinct SharePoint farms. All SQL system and SharePoint config databases reside locally and should not synchronized. These are farm- specific databases. During a planned failover, you must first dismount the content databases, failover the Availability group, then mount the content databases (easily accomplished with PowerShell)

28. SharePoint Best Practices In SQL

29. SharePoint Databases List of all SharePoint Databases:
Configuration (SharePoint_Config)
Central Administration Content (SharePoint_AdminContent)
Content (WSS_Content)
App Management (AppMng_Service_DB)
Business Data Connectivity (Bdc_Service_DB)
Search Administration (Search_Service_Application_DB)
Analytics Reporting (Search_Service_Application_AnalyticsReportingStoreDB)
Crawl (Search_Service_Application_CrawlStoreDB)
Database types and descriptions in SharePoint Server

30. SharePoint Databases List of all SharePoint Databases
Link (Search_Service_Application_LinkStoreDB)
Secure Store (Secure_Store_Service_DB)
Usage (WSS_Logging)
Subscription Settings (SettingsServiceDB)
User Profile (User Profile Service Application_ProfileDB)
User Synchronization (User Profile Service Application_SyncDB)
User Profile Social Tagging (User Profile Service Application_SocialDB)

31. SharePoint Databases List of all SharePoint Databases
Word Automation (WordAutomationServices)
Managed Metadata Service (Managed Metadata Service)
SharePoint Translation Services (TranslationService)
PowerPivot Service (DefaultPowerPivotServiceApplicationDB)
PerformancePoint (PerformancePoint Service Application)
State Service (StateService)
Report Server Catalog (ReportingService)
ReportServerTempDB (ReportingService_<GUID>_TempDB)
Report Server Alerting (ReportingService_<GUID>_Alerting)

32. SharePoint Databases
SharePoint Databases – all have their own unique features SQL guidance:
Location requirements
General size information and growth factors
Read/write characteristics
Default recovery model
Supported backup tools
Recommended scaling method
Technet Database types and descriptions:
Database types and descriptions in SharePoint Server

33. Virtualization Considerations
To Virtualize or Not:
Web and Application Servers:
Performance Considerations:
Host OS Resources
Physical NICS Virtual NICS
SQL Server:
Bottom Line
“…a virtual database server will not outperform a physical server that uses the same configuration. However, if you scale up the virtual database server configuration, you can achieve the same overall throughput at a slightly increased CPU usage cost”
Overview of farm virtualization and architectures for SharePoint

34. Virtualization Considerations
Overview of farm virtualization and architectures for SharePoint

35. SharePoint Blob Storage
#1 pain of mature SharePoint implementations is storage (as you all likely know already)
Separates structured & unstructured data
Maximizes cost effective storage (only purpose)
2 Types:
Local RBS
Filestream (free)
Remote RBS
AvePoint Storage Manager ($)
Mexalogix StoragePoint ($)

36. SharePoint Blob Storage
Noteworthy SharePoint Server 2016 points:
BLOB Store installation package for SQL Server 2014 is the only version of local RBS supported.
Site collection backup and restore will download the file contents and upload them back to the server (deep copy).
The FILESTREAM provider is the only provider that is currently supported for SharePoint Server 2016 farm database backup and restore operations.
Backup and restore in Central Administration — cannot be used with “remote RBS providers”.
Overview of RBS in SharePoint Server
Deciding to use RBS in SharePoint Server

37. SharePoint Diagnostic Logging
Another cost effective way to save OS disk space
Configure/Tune Diagnostics Settings
Restrict log disk space usage
Use the Verbose setting sparingly
Enable event log flooding protection
Move the logs off the machine
Overview of RBS in SharePoint Server
Deciding to use RBS in SharePoint Server

38. SharePoint Monitoring
Proactive Monitoring
System Center Management Pack for SharePoint Server
Metalogix - Diagnostic Manager
Reactive Monitoring
Health Analyzer
Reports
Availability Monitoring
Angry Users w/ pitchforks and lanterns
Overview of Monitoring -

39. SharePoint as a Development Platform
Legacy:
OOB Solutions (80/20 rule applies)
PerformancePoint
Excel Services
AccessApp (DOA)
InfoPath (Who Am I? Why am I here?)
SP Apps (Sandbox)
Full-trust Custom Apps (CSOM)

40. SharePoint as a Development Platform
Current:
OOB Solutions (80/20 rule applies)
Workflows
List Forms
PowerPivot
InfoPath (I’m not dead yet, but…!)
SP Add-In’s (SP & Provider Hosted)
PowerApps
SP Apps (JSOM/REST)

41. SharePoint as a Development Platform
Future:
OOB Solutions (80/20 rule applies)
Workflows
List Forms
InfoPath (Please kill me!)
SP Add-In’s (CSOM/JSOM/REST)
SP Apps (JSOM/REST)
Flow
PowerApps
SharePoint Development Framework (SPFx)

42. QUESTIONS ?

43. THANK YOU !

44. Useful Links
tuning-for-sharepoint-part-1.aspx
tuning-for-sharepoint-part-3-tempdb.aspx
configuration-and-considerations-for-sharepoint-2010.aspx
on-sql-server-alwayson-2014-edition.aspx

45. Your User Community Steel City Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group
SQLSaturday Pensacola 2017
Jun 3, 2017
SQLSaturday Baton Rouge 2017
July 29, 2017
SQLSaturday Columbus GA (Phenix City AL)
Usually in the Fall (not announced yet)
SQLSaturday Atlanta 2017
Jul 15, 2017