This document discusses redundancy and high availability strategies for SharePoint 2010 farms. It describes the different server roles in SharePoint and how each can be made redundant. It provides examples of load-balanced web server architectures and search service application topologies using multiple query and crawl servers. The document also covers database mirroring techniques for content databases and best practices for backup and recovery.

1. SharePoint High Availability and
Disaster Recovery
Michael Noel
@MichaelTNoel

2. Michael Noel
• Author of SAMS Publishing titles “SharePoint 2007 Unleashed,” the upcoming
“SharePoint 2010 Unleashed,” “SharePoint 2003 Unleashed”, “Teach Yourself
SharePoint 2003 in 10 Minutes,” “Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed,” “Exchange
Server 2010 Unleashed”, “ISA Server 2006 Unleashed”, and many other titles .
• Partner at Convergent Computing (www.cco.com / +1(510)444-5700) – San
Francisco, U.S.A. based Infrastructure/Security specialists for
SharePoint, AD, Exchange, Security

3. What we will cover
• SharePoint 2010 Structure
• SharePoint Component Redundancy
• Sample Architecture of Redundant/Highly Available
Deployments
– Smallest redundant/highly available farm
– Mid-sized farms
– Large farms
– Virtualization farm architecture
• SQL Mirroring of Content Databases
– Synchronous Mirroring in Single Site Model
– Synchronous Mirroring in Highly Connected DR Site Model
– Asynchronous Mirroring in DR Site Model
• Backup/Restore Tips, including info on DPM 2010 Snapshot-
based backup for SharePoint

4. SHAREPOINT 2010 COMPONENT
REDUNDANCY

5. SharePoint 2010 Component
Redundancy
• Each SharePoint 2010 server type has
different redundancy/availability concerns.
– Web Server
– Search Service Application Role
– Other Service Application Roles
– Database Server

6. SharePoint 2010 Component Redundancy
Web Servers – Network Load Balancing
• Hardware Based Load Balancing
(F5, Cisco, Citrix NetScaler – Best
performance and scalability
• Software Windows Network Load
Balancing fully supported by MS, but
requires Layer 2 VLAN (all packets
must reach all hosts.) Layer 3
Switches must be configured to allow
Layer 2 to the specific VLAN.
• If using Unicast, use two NICs on the
server, one for communications
between nodes.
• If using Multicast, be sure to
configure routers appropriately
• Set Affinity to Single (Sticky Sessions)
• If using VMware, note fix to NLB
RARP issue
(http://tinyurl.com/vmwarenlbfix)

7. SharePoint 2010 Component Redundancy
Web Servers – Network Load Balancing
• Best Practice – Create Multiple Web Apps with Load-
balanced VIPs (Sample below)
– Web Role Servers
• sp1.companyabc.com (10.0.0.101) – Web Role Server #1
• sp2.companyabc.com (10.0.0.102) – Web Role Server #2
– Clustered VIPs shared between SP1 and SP2 (Create A
records in DNS)
• spnlb.companyabc.com (10.0.0.103) - Cluster
• spca.companyabc.com (10.0.0.104) – SP Central Admin
• spsmtp.companyabc.com (10.0.0.105) – Inbound Email VIP
• home.companyabc.com (10.0.0.106) – Main SP Web App (can
be multiple)
• mysite.companyabc.com (10.0.0.107) – Main MySites Web
App

8. SharePoint 2010 Component Redundancy
Service Application Servers
• Redundancy for Service Applications can be added by simply
adding S.A. roles to additional servers
• Redundancy and availability is automatically handled from
within SharePoint
• Most Service Applications have an associated database that
must also be made redundant / available
• Special considerations for Search
• Important to understand what the Service Application roles
are

9. SharePoin
SharePoint SharePoint
t Server
Service applications Description Foundation Server 2010
2010
2010 Enterprise
Standard
Lets users view, edit, and interact with Access 2010 databases in a
Access Services X
Web browser.
Business Data
Gives access to line-of-business data systems. X X X
Connectivity service
Lets users view and interact withExcel 2010 files in a Web
Excel Services Application X
browser.
Managed Metadata Manages taxonomy hierarchies, keywords and social tagging
X X
service infrastructure, and publish content types across site collections.
PerformancePoint Service
Provides the capabilities of PerformancePoint. X
Application
Crawls content, produces index partitions, and serves search
Search service X X
queries.
Provides single sign-on authentication to access multiple
Secure Store service X X
applications or services.
Provides temporary storage of user session data for SharePoint
State service X X
Server components.
Usage and Health Data Collects farm wide usage and health data, and provides the ability
X X X
Collection service to view various usage and health reports.
Adds support for My Site Web sites, profile pages, social tagging
User Profile service X X
and other social computing features.
Lets users view and refresh published Visio 2010 diagrams in a
Visio Graphics Service X
Web browser.
Web Analytics service Provides Web service interfaces. X X
Word Automation Services Performs automated bulk document conversions. X X
Microsoft SharePoint Provides multi-tenant functionality for service applications. Tracks
Foundation Subscription subscription IDs and settings for services that are deployed in X X X
Settings Service partitioned mode. Deployed through Windows PowerShell only.

10. Additional Service Applications
• Office Web Apps
– Excel Calculation Services
– Word Viewing Service
– PowerPoint Service
• Project Server 2010
• Third Party (Newsgator, etc.)

11. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Search Service Application Role
• Replaces both Index and Query Roles from 2007 into one Role
• Processes query results for Web servers
• Holds the index, either in entirety or a partial copy when using ‘index
partitions’
• Runs the query processor, which merges search results from multiple
index partitions, performs security trimming, and other search tasks.
• Adding multiple Query servers creates redundancy
• Each Query Server requires a large drive set for the Index partitions. Be
sure to set aside enough space! The index size may be from 5% to 30%
of the size of the content being indexed. Don’t forget external content
sources!

12. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Query Servers: Index Partitions
• Portion of the entire Index
• Can be spread across multiple query servers
• Multiple index partitions = faster search queries
• Query mirrors (second copy of an index partition) can be deployed across
query servers for redundancy.

13. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Crawl Servers
• Runs the Crawl component, which creates index partitions and
propagates them to query servers
• Typically used to house the Search Administration component
• Multiple crawl servers provide High Availability for the crawl architecture
• Crawl database(s) and Property Database(s) utilized for crawl
information and history, and properties for crawled data
• Multiple crawlers can be associated with each crawl database
• Can be run on a server with Web role or Query role

14. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Database Role
• Shared Storage Clustering (MSCS) can be used for local server High
Availability
• Mirroring of Content Databases to remote SQL instance is supported
(and recommended) More on this…
• SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2 Standard Edition supports two-node
Cluster and synchronous mirroring.
• SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2 Enterprise Edition supports more than
two-nodes, asynchronous mirroring, and Transparent Data Encryption
(SQL 2008 only)
• SQL Server 2012 (Denali) has potential…not yet released

15. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Database Role – Two Instance / Two Node Cluster Model

16. SharePoint Component Redundancy
Redundancy/HA of Database Server Instance
• Use SQL Client Aliases for Config DB Server (i.e.
spsqlfarm.companyabc.com)
• Use a second SQL Client Alias for Content DBs (i.e.
spsqlcontent.companyabc.com)
• Loss of SQL Server can be mitigated by simply pointing the
alias to a new SQL instance.
• Be sure to add the Kerberos SPNs to the aliases

17. SAMPLE HIGHLY AVAILABLE
ARCHITECTURE FOR SP2010

18. Farm Architecture
All-in-One Farm (No Redundancy)
• All SharePoint roles and SQL
Server on the same box
• For very small environment
without a lot of load
• SQL contention with SharePoint
• Easy to deploy, but highest
potential for contention

19. Farm Architecture
Dedicated SQL Database Server (Better Performance / No HA)
• Dedicated SQL Server
• All SharePoint roles on single box
• Disk IO contention lessened by
moving SQL off SP Server
• Greater performance can be
gained by breaking SharePoint
roles onto separate servers

20. Farm Architecture
Smallest Highly-Available Farm
• 2 Web/Query/Crawl Servers
• 2 Database Servers (Clustered or
Mirrored)
• 2 Query components for each
index partition
• 2 Crawlers for the Crawl DB, one
on each server
• Search Admin Service on one
server

21. Farm Architecture
Medium Sized Farm
• 2 Web/Query Servers
• 2 Crawl Servers
• 2 Database Servers (Clustered or
Mirrored)
• 2 Query components for each
index partition
• 2 Crawlers for the Crawl DB, one
on each Crawl server
• Search Admin Service on one
Crawl server

22. Farm Architecture
Large Farm
• Multiple Dedicated Web Servers
• Multiple Dedicated Query Servers
• Multiple Dedicated Crawl Servers, with multiple Crawl DBs to increase parallelization of the crawl
process
• Multiple distributed Index partitions (max of 10 million items per index partition)
• Two query components for each Index partition, spread among servers

23. SQL DATABASE MIRRORING FOR HIGH
AVAILABILITY AND DISASTER RECOVERY

24. SQL Database Mirroring
Clustering vs. Mirroring
• Clustering is Shared Storage, can’t survive
storage failure, makes Mirroring more
attractive
• Clustering fails over more quickly
• Mirroring is not supported for all databases,
but Clustering is
• Both Clustering and Mirroring can be used at
the same time (Instance to Instance)

25. SQL Database Mirroring
History of Mirroring
• Introduced in SQL 2005 SP1
• Greatly improved in SQL 2008 and now SQL 2008 R2
• Available in Enterprise and Standard (Synchronous only)
editions
• Works by keeping a mirror copy of a database or databases on
two servers
• Can be used locally, or the mirror can be remote
• Can be set to use a two-phase commit process to ensure
integrity of data across both servers
• Can be combined with traditional shared storage clustering to
further improve redundancy
• SharePoint 2010 is now Mirroring aware!

26. SQL Database Mirroring
Database Mirroring Model #1 – Single Site
• Single Site
• Synchronous
Replication
• Uses a SQL
Witness Server
to Failover
Automatically
• Mirror all
SharePoint DBs
in the Farm
• Use a SQL Alias
to switch to
Mirror Instance

27. SQL Database Mirroring
Database Mirroring Model #2: Cross-Site (Stretch) Farm
• Two Sites
• 1-10 ms
Latency max
• 1Gb
Bandwidth
minimum
• Farm
Servers in
each
location
• Auto
Failover

28. SQL Database Mirroring
Database Mirroring Model #3 – Failover Farm in Remote Site
• Two Sites
• Two Farms
• Mirror only
Content DBs
• Failover is
Manual
• Read-only
Mode
possible
• Must Re-
Attach and
Re-Index

29. SQL Database Mirroring
Databases Supported for Mirroring – Slide 1 of 2
Synchronous Asynchronous
Mirror Mirror
Support Support
Configuration X
Central Administration content X
Content Databases X X
Usage and Health Data Collection
Business Data Connectivity X
Application Registry service * (BDC Upgrade)
Subscription Settings service * (PowerShell X
Enabled)
Search – Search Administration X
Search - Crawl X
Search - Property X

30. SQL Database Mirroring
Databases Supported for Mirroring – Slide 2 of 2
Synchronous Asynchronous
Mirror Mirror
Support Support
User Profile - Profile X
User Profile - Synchronization
User Profile – Social Tagging
Web Analytics - Staging
Web Analytics - Reporting X
Secure Store X X
Stage X
Managed Metadata X
Word Automation Services X
PerformancePoint X

31. SHAREPOINT DATA
REDUNDANCY

32. SharePoint Data Redundancy
What are the Critical SharePoint Components to Backup?
• SharePoint Databases
– Config Database (typically excluded)
– Content Database(s)
– Services Databases
• IIS Configuration
• Web.config files in inetpub directory
• Web part assemblies in %systemroot%assembly
• Any custom templates

33. Understanding the SP2010 Databases
SharePoint 2010 Databases (Part I)
Config • Stores farm configuration data
• Mostly unchanged from 2007 ConfigDB
Content • Used to store documents, sites, lists, etc.
• Mostly unchanged from 2007, Central Admin also has Content DB
Logging • Used by Usage and Health Data Collection Service
• Temporarily stores health monitoring and usage data for use in reports
Administration • Created for the Search Service, 2007 equivalent was SSP DB
• One Admin DB created per Search application
Property • Also used for Search Service
• Stores crawled properties
Crawl • Also used for Search Service, 2007 equivalent was Search DB
• Drives crawl component, hosts crawled data
Staging • Used by Web Analytics Service to analyze traffic
• Stores fact data, queued batch data, and asset metadata
Reporting • Also used by Web Analytics Service
• Stores report data, diagnostics info, etc.

34. Understanding the SP2010 Databases
SharePoint 2010 Databases (Part II)
Term Store •Used by Managed Metadata Service
•Stores Managed Metadata for use data layer
State •Used by the State Service
•Stores temporary state info for InfoPath Forms Services
Profile •Part of the User Profile Service
•Stores user and associated information
Synchronization •Used by User Profile Service
•Stores Configuration and Staging Data for Prof Sync
Social Tagging •Also used by User Profile Service
•Stores social tags and notes from users
BCS •Used by Business Connectivity Service to store external objects
Store •Used by Secure Store Service to map credentials
•Replaces SSO DB in 2007, can be used by ERP/DRM Systems
tempDB •Not a SharePoint Database, but included in this list as it is critical to SP
•Highly critical for performance! Do not underestimate!
(Others) •Other Services Databases

35. SharePoint Data Redundancy
Tools available for Backup and Restore
• Two-stage Recycle Bin
• Site Recycle Bin (added in SharePoint 2010 Service Pack
1)
• SharePoint Central Admin Tool
• PowerShell
• STSADM
• IIS Metaverse Backup Script
• SQL 2005/2008 Tools (Maintenance Plan)
• Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
2010
• Third-party (Quest, Metalogix, AvePoint, others)

36. BACKUP WITH THE
SHAREPOINT CENTRAL ADMIN
TOOL

37. What does the Central Admin Backup Tool
do?
• Full fidelity backups of all SharePoint content and
indexes
• Backs up all SharePoint databases except Config DB,
which is not needed.
• Similar to SQL level backup, except can be more
granular at the Web Application level
• SP2010 now has status indicators
• SP2010 now allows for Site Collection Backup from
Central Admin

38. Disadvantages of Central Admin Backup
Tool
• Not automated
• If XML catalog is damaged, entire backup can
be at risk
• No item-level restore capabilities
• Not enterprise level

39. POWERSHELL BACKUPS

40. PowerShell Backup in SP2010
• PowerShell can be used to automate Backups
– Backup-SPConfigurationDatabase
– Backup-SPFarm
– Backup-SPSite
• Equivalent to Central Admin or STSADM
• Can pipe out results and backup multiple site
collections, etc.

41. PowerShell BackUp & Restore CMDLETS
Cmdlet SharePoint Component
Backup-SPFarm Entire Farm
Service Applications
Web Applications
Content Databases
Restore-SPFarm Entire Farm
Farm Configuration Only
Service Applications
Web Applcations
Content Databases
Backup-SPConfigurationDatabase Farm Configuration Only
Backup-SPSite / Restore-SPSite Site Collection
Export-SPWeb / Import-SPWeb Sites
Subsites
Libraries
Lists

42. PowerShell - Farm Configuration Backup
• Farm Configuration Only Backup
– backup-spfarm –backupMethod full –directory
servernameBackup -configurationonly
• Complete Farm Backup
– Backup-spfarm –backupmethod full – directory
servernameBackup
• Backup-SPFarm specific parameters
– -BackupMethod
– -BackupThreads

43. PowerShell - Configuration DB Backup
• Configuration Database Backup
– Backup-spconfigurationdatabase –directory
servernamesp2010backup –databaseserver server –
databasename mss_configdb
• Backup Farm Configuration Information
– Information Rights Management
– Workflow
– Diagnostic logging
– Customizations [solutions deployed]
– Outbound e-mail configuration
– Antivirus settings

44. PowerShell – Site Collection Backup
• Backup Site Collection
– Backup-SPSite –Identity
http://justsharepoint.com/Sites/demo -Path
servernamesp2010backupdemosc.bak -Force
• Other Parameters –
– -NoSiteLock – use with caution, possible data corruption
– -UseSQLSnapshot – use content database snapshot
when doing a backup
• Can be run multiple times and/or scripted to
automate backups
• Extremely useful approach to backing up SPF Site
collections and personal sites

45. Granular Backup / Restore
• New in SharePoint 2010 -
– Granular Backup/Restore From Central
Administration
• Site Collection Backup
• Export a site or list
• Recover data from an unattached content database
– Granular Backup Job Status indicators
• Granular restore operations only using
PowerShell
• Workflows are not included when exporting a
site or a list

46. PowerShell – Export Site / List
• Export-SPWeb –Identity
http://companyabc.com/sites/site1/ -path
serverbackupbackup.bak -itemurl
“features” –force
• Option to include user security and versions

47. Unattached Content Databases
• New feature of SharePoint 2010
• Granular restores of SharePoint content
• Read-only content databases
• Restored SharePoint content databases
• Content database snapshots
• Restore Site Collections, Sites, Libraries and
Lists

48. How to backup the IISv7 Config
• Open a command prompt by using the Run as
Administrator option and change directory to
%windir%system32inetsrv.
• At the command prompt, type appcmd add
backup <backupname>. If you do not include
the name of the backup, the system will name
it for you by using a date, time format.

49. SQL MAINTENANCE
PLAN BACKUPS

50. Backing up using SQL Tools
• SQL 2005/2008/2008 R2 Management Studio can
be used to backup all Databases
• Same as Central Admin Backup, but only backs up
SQL databases, not index
• Can be scheduled as part of a SQL Maintenance
Plan
• Can backup as Full, Differential, or Incremental
• Can backup Config DB, but normally not needed
(only supported scenario is during a SAN
Snapshot)

51. SYSTEM CENTER
DATA PROTECTION
MANAGER 2010

52. Features of DPM for SharePoint
• Item-level recovery of Documents and List
Data
• VSS Snapshot Integration, can snapshot SQL
Databases every 15 minutes
• Backup to Disk (near-term), Backup to Tape
(long-term) – Direct integration
• Not only SharePoint, but File Data, Exchange,
SQL, and Bare-metal recovery

53. DPM Backing up a SharePoint Farm
System State
Internet
Information
Services (IIS)
“Front End”
“Farm” Config dB SharePoint VSS Writer
(SQL)
DPM 2010
Files
Content Servers (SQL) Enterprise Search (index)

54. SharePoint Recovery
• The Entire Farm
“Farm” Config dB
Entire Farm
(SQL)
DPM 2010
Content Servers (SQL) Enterprise Search (index)

55. SharePoint Recovery
• The Entire Farm
• A Content DB
“Farm” Config dB
Content DB information
(SQL)
DPM 2010
Content Servers (SQL) Enterprise Search (index)

56. SharePoint Recovery
• The Entire Farm
• A Content DB
• Site Collection
• A Site
• Document “Farm” Config dB
(SQL)
DPM 2010
DPM handles restore thru Recovery
Farm to production Farm
Farm then redirects data to
appropriate content database and site
Content Servers (SQL) Enterprise Search (index)

57. Third-party Backup Solutions
• Multiple tools available
• Provide for item-level recovery and complex DR
scenarios
• Often integrates with the storage platform vendor

58. For More Information
• SharePoint 2010 Unleashed and SharePoint 2007 Unleashed (SAMS Publishing)
(http://www.samspublishing.com)
• Microsoft SQL Mirroring for SharePoint 2007 Whitepaper
(http://tinyurl.com/mirrorsp)
• Microsoft SQL Mirroring for SharePoint 2007 Case Study
(http://tinyurl.com/mirrorspcs)
• Microsoft Virtualizing SharePoint 2007 Whitepaper (http://tinyurl.com/virtualsp)
• Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Search Architecture Diagrams
(http://tinyurl.com/searchsp)

59. Your Feedback is Important
Please fill out a session evaluation form drop it
off at the conference registration desk.
Thank you!

60. Michael Noel
Twitter: @MichaelTNoel
www.cco.com
Slides: slideshare.net/michaeltnoel