How many ways to backup your SharePoint web site?

Quick notes on various methods available for SharePoint 2007 backup.

• Through Central Admin GUI
  (Central Administration > Operations > Perform a Backup)
• Command line backup using STSADM
  (stsadm -o backup -directory/site)
• Using SharePoint Designer
  (Site > Administration > Backup Web Site)
• Database Backup using MS SQL Server - Click here for more details
• Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) - Click here for more details
• Recycle Bin and versioning - Click here for more details
• Third-party tools

Search Web Parts in MOSS 2007

MOSS 2007 has nine built-in web parts for search to provide a powerful tool to customize the search results and the user interface without writing lengthy code. These web parts are listed below:
Advanced Search Box

• People Search Box
• People Search Core Results
• Search box
• Search Core Results
• Search High Confidence Results
• Search Paging
• Search Statistics
• Search Summary

Public Web Sites Hosted on MOSS 2007

When I asked someone about a few local web sites being hosted on MOSS 2007, her answer was, "Everyone uses MOSS." I wasn't surprized by the answer though it didn't help me. At wssdemo, I found a list of hundreds of web sites hosted on MOSS 2007: http://www.wssdemo.com/Pages/websites.aspx

Approval Workflow Status Values in MOSS 2007

The workflow approval status values are listed below:
the integer values:

0 - Not Started
1 - Failed on Start
2 - In Progress
3 - Error Occurred
4 - Stopped by User 
5 - Completed
6 - Failed on Start, Retrying
7 - Error Occurred, Retrying
8 - View Query Overflow
15 - Canceled
16 - Approved
17 - Rejected

Workflow in MOSS 2007

A workflow can be defined as a model to represent real work for further assessment, In computerized environment, workflow may mean a software solution to capture the events and actions of these assessments as an attempt to computerize the actual business process.

Workflows could be implemented in three different ways in SharePoint 2007. SharePoint 2007 has some OOB workflows. Simple workflows can be created using SharePoint Designer. More complex workflows can be developed in Visual Studio. SharePoint 2007 uses Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) as an engine for workflows. WWF provides workflow runtime, and SharePoint lists and document libraries provide data repository for the items used by workflows.


If you are interested in knowing more this MSDN link is a good starting point: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc514224.aspx#MOSS2007DevWorkflowSolutions_WorkflowPlatform

The 12 Hive in MOSS 2007 Explained

The legendary 12 hive folder is where the OOB system files are located afterSharePoint 2007 installation. 

It is located at "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12" in a standard MOSS 2007 installation. This folder contains the following sub-directories:

• ADMISAPI - This folder maps to IIS virtual directory  for SharePoint Central Administration web service
• BIN - MOSS utilities binary files such as STSADM.EXE. Sub-directory LCIDD stores language specific binary files in individual folders for each language. 
• CONFIG - As the name suggests configuration files used by MOSS
• Data - Indexing services save indexes here.
• HCCab - A set of cab files containing manifest and content information used by the SharePoint help sytem are stored in LCID subdirectory
• Help - The help files used by the configuration wizard
• ISAPI - This folder maps to IIS virtual directory "_vti_bin" and stores all the standard Web Services for SharePoint except SharePoint Central Administration.
• LOGS - SharePoint logs.
• Resources - Localization resources for SharePoint sites
• TEMPLATE - The templates for a SharePoint web site. The features and xml files are also stored in subdirectories of this folder.

A snapshot of 12 hive folder (Click image to zoom)

WSS 3.0 Web Services

A complete reference is available at this MSDN link for the following WSS 3.0 web services:

Administration Web Service
Alerts Web Service
Authentication Web Service
Copy Web Service
Document Workspace Web Service
Forms Web Service
Imaging Web Service
List Data Retrieval Web Service
Lists Web Service
Meetings Web Service
People Web Service
Permissions Web Service
SharePoint Directory Management Web Service
Site Data Web Service
Sites Web Service
Search Web Service
Users and Groups Web Service
Versions Web Service
Views Web Service
Web Part Pages Web Service
Webs Web Service

MOSS 2007 Web Services

MOSS 2007 web services are actually ASP.NET Web Services (ASMX). The physical files for these ASMX web services are located in the IIS virtual directory "_vti_bin" which physically maps to the folder "%Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ISAPI" through SharePoint metadata and HttpModules. Following are a few out of the box services available with MOSS 2007:

Search - spsearch.asmx
Lists - Lists.asmx
List Data Retrieval  - DspSts.asmx
People - People.asmx
Permissions - Permissions.asmx













spsearch service and methods


The admin web service for "Central Administration" is located in IIS virtual directory "_vti_adm" which physically maps to the folder  "%Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ADMISAPI."

Each one of these services consist of a *.wsdl.aspx file and a *.disco file too besides .asmx files for the service WSDL (Web Services Description Language), and  the service discovery implementation.

The URL for the Admin.asmx web service:
http://:portnumber/_vti_adm/Admin.asmx

The URL for all other services is:
http:///_vti_bin/.asmx

Advanced features of MOSS 2007

• User Interface (UI) and navigation enhancements
• Document management enhancements
• Enhanced Search, Workflows, Lists  
• Office 2007 Integration
• New Web Parts and Site-type templates
• Business Data Catalog
• Search Center
• Report Center
• Business Intelligence and Excel Server
• Forms Server and InfoPath
• The “Features” feature