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Frequently Asked Questions

What version of SharePoint does StoragePoint require?

StoragePoint is compatible with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) Service Pack 1 (or later), Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Service Pack 1 (or later), SharePoint Foundation 2010, and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 1.

What technologies/methods does StoragePoint use
to externalize SharePoint content BLOBs?

StoragePoint leverages the SharePoint EBS provider
interface in WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007 and the SharePoint EBS and SQL RBS provider interfaces in SharePoint 2010.

Does your product require any additional hardware
or 3rd party software?

No. StoragePoint plugs right into your existing SharePoint farm without additional server, storage hardware or 3rd party software solutions.

Do you outsource any part of your product
development to 3rd parties?

No. All product development, from design to delivery, is performed in our development center.

Do you outsource product support?

No. All product support is delivered from our development center.

Do I need to install StoragePoint on each server in
my farm?

No. The StoragePoint installer is run on one Web Front End in the farm. The SharePoint solution architecture then handles distributing and installing StoragePoint across the servers in the farm.

Are the externalized content BLOBs still crawled
by the search indexer?

Yes, StoragePoint sits below the SharePoint object model and as such does not break OOB capabilities. After hundreds of use case scenarios and API calls, we have not found a single scenario where SharePoint does not work as expected.

What impact on SharePoint performance should I
expect with StoragePoint installed and activated?

In general, you will see no degradation in storage or retrieval performance with StoragePoint installed and activated. In fact, you should see anywhere from a marginal to substantial increase in performance. Our testing shows between a 25-60% increase in performance, with the low-end of that scale for storage profiles that had both encryption and compression enabled.

How does StoragePoint handle my existing
SharePoint content?

StoragePoint ships with a SharePoint timer job that can be configured to externalize the content associated with a web application or site collection. The job can be run immediately or scheduled.

Can I uninstall StoragePoint at any time?

While we hope you will never want to do this, StoragePoint ships with a SharePoint timer job that can be used to recall externalized content. The job can be run immediately or scheduled. Once all content has been recalled and placed in the content database, StoragePoint can be turned off and uninstalled.

Where can StoragePoint store externalized SharePoint content?

SharePoint content BLOBs can be remoted to virtually any on-premise (i.e. SAN, NAS) or cloud storage platform.

Does all externalized SharePoint content have
to be put in the same place?

No. Different storage profiles can define different end-points by selecting different adapters or providing connection strings that point to different BLOB stores. You can scope profiles by Web Application, Content Database, or Site Collection.

How do I handle item level backup and restore
with StoragePoint installed?

StoragePoint co-exists with most item level backup and restore solutions. Simply set a BLOB Retention Policy on your storage profiles that matches the retention policy for item level back-ups. This will ensure that the BLOBs associated with any restored item(s) will still be present in the remote BLOB store.

How can I be sure that externalized content is
not tampered with?

StoragePoint works off of a single service account to store and retrieve externalized content BLOBs, so the remote BLOB store can be locked down to restrict unauthorized access. Additionally, a StoragePoint storage profile can be configured to compress and/or encrypt the content.

We need to create/modify/delete a large number of StoragePoint profiles. Is there a way to automate
this process?

The StoragePoint API can be used for this purpose. The API is a Microsoft .Net assembly that can be used from a variety of development environments. We have also created PowerShell Cmdlets that will accommodate this and several other administrative tasks.

Can StoragePoint handle very large files - up to 2GB?

Yes. StoragePoint will efficiently handle large files up to the SharePoint imposed limit of 2GB.

My SharePoint farm lacks Internet access. Is there
another way to activate the product?

Yes. The Manual Activation option allows activation on a non-Internet connected farm. Simply select Manual Activation on the License Management screen and follow the on-screen instructions.

Does StoragePoint work with WORM and CAS
(Content-addressable Storage) storage devices?

Yes, in fact specialized optional adapters are available for EMC® Centera® and Hitachi Content Archive Platform (HCAP). WORM and CAS storage devices that can be accessed via a Network, Domain, or CIFS share are compatible with StoragePoint's out-of-the-box File System adapter.