Different types of SharePoint Architectural

modelsBy Vignesh Ganesan | MCP, MCITP,MCTS & ITIL V3

SharePoint ConsultantBlog site : www.vigneshsharepointthoughts.com

Active Blogger on SharePoint Community & C Sharp corner

Targeted Audience:SharePoint Farm Administrators SharePoint DevelopersSharePoint ArchitectsFolks who are new to SharePoint so you get to know what the future

holds for you

What to expect form this session?To understand the different types of Architectural models

available in SharePoint .What’s the right model for your business or customer ?Understanding the requirements for each model Things that you need to be mindful of in each modelThis session will be mainly focused on SharePoint 2013 &

SharePoint 2016 version as SharePoint 2010 is already out of main stream production support .

DISCLAIMER: Ideas may differ but these are my own thoughts

Evolution of SharePoint :Born in 2001Evolved as collaboration platform and was adopted by many large

organizationsRequires extensive server infrastructure for on-premises installationsMajor versions: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016

Four type of architectural models:

SharePoint on-premises SharePoint Online/SaaS (Office 365)SharePoint Hybrid SharePoint in IaaS ( Azure , AWS &Google Cloud Platform )

1.SharePoint on-premises :Plan, deploy, maintain, and customize SharePoint environment in your datacenter that you maintain.

Overview:Traditional model where you plan, deploy, maintain and customize your

SharePoint Server 2016/2013 environment and all the supporting infrastructure.

Software purchased from Microsoft through an Enterprise Agreement or volume licensing.

You’re responsible for patching/scaling up /scaling out the environment Prepare your own Governance plan and Information ArchitectureMicrosoft can provide support at a cost through the Microsoft Services and

Support organizations. It’s on-premises and not on premise.

Understanding on-premises:SharePoint covers a huge set of individual technologies under a single umbrella :

SharePoint Server 2016A newer on-premises version of SharePoint means :More RAMMore CPUMore number of other resources

Architecture tasks :Identify the SharePoint services that your organization needs(i.e.

search , user profile , managed metadata, business intelligence, business connectivity etc.…) .

Design a SharePoint farm topology and logical architecture. Size hardware (physical or virtual) and supporting infrastructure. Perform validation testing. Integrate with Windows Server AD and DNS. Design the disaster recovery environment.

When to choose and when not to choose this model:• When to choose this model?Your organization’s policy doesn’t permit the use of cloud servicesYou have all the required resources such as budget , staff ,data center ,

hardware & software etc.…Your business doesn’t need SharePoint to be accessed beyond your

organization’s firewall ( Ex: customers and business partners)Your environment is heavily customized with many farm solutions

where it is impractical or too costly to move them to SharePoint Online in Office 365.

Organizations that desire control of the entire platform and solution.

When not to choose this model?Data center capacity is not available and your organization’s policy

does permit the use of cloud servicesYou are not equipped with a proper data center which can afford an

on-premises implementation of SharePoint.You don’t have all the required resources such as budget , staff ,data

center , hardware & software etc.…Your business needs SharePoint to be accessed beyond your

organization’s firewall ( Ex: customers and business partners)

Licensing requirements for on-premises deployment :

For SharePoint 2016 : Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016 64-bit version SQL Server 2014 SP1 and SQL Server 2016 ( SQL Server Express is not supported ) 64-bit version SharePoint 2016 Server License SharePoint 2016 Client Access License

For SharePoint 2013 : Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 64-bit version SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 and SQL Server 2012 64-bit version SharePoint Server 2013 Server License SharePoint Server 2013 Client Access License

Detailed explanation on SharePoint server licensing :_

https://vigneshsharepointthoughts.com/2016/06/02/demystifying-sharepoint-server-licensing/

2.SharePoint Online/SaaS :

You consume SharePoint through a Software as a Service (SaaS-Office 365) subscription model.

SharePoint is always up to date, but you are responsible for managing SharePoint itself ( design the information architecture, create a governance plan )

SharePoint will be a part of Office 365 suite in this model along with Exchange Online , Skype for Business Online and other products such as Office Professional Plus, Visio Pro and Microsoft Project

Exchange Online

SharePoint Online

What is Office 365?

Skype for BusinessOnline

Office 365 ProPlus Project Online Visio Pro for

Office 365

Overview :Microsoft hosts and manages the IT infrastructure, you manage your

information and users. With Software as a Service (SaaS), a rich feature set is always up to

date(meaning , your environment will upto date with all the required CU’s , hotfixes and other patches)

No need to worry about patching/scaling up/scaling out the environment

User log on with Microsoft Account from anywhere. Supports secure client communication (HTTPS). Customizations: Apps for Office and SharePoint. SharePoint will be deployed on a dedicated Microsoft data center

Architecture tasks : Plan and design integration with Azure Active Directory( use

AADConnect ). Choose the right identity model for Office 365 Ensure network capacity and availability on-premises. Get third-party SSL certificates if required. If you have on-premises directory, get third-party SSL certificates. Plan the tenant name, design site collection architecture, and

governance. Plan customizations, solutions, and apps for SharePoint Online.

AD Sync Options:

Choosing the right identity model for Office 365:

When to choose this model?

Your organization’s policy permits the usage of cloud servicesWhen you have minimal on-premises IT infrastructure, no on-premises directory Start-ups/small businesses You don’t have the necessary resource to build and support the SharePoint servers and maintain

it .Faster user provisioningWhen you always prefer to be upto date with all the latest CU’s , updates & patches and also in

terms of Virus definitions .Outsourcing of administrative tasks, such as log management, to save time and money and allow

an organization to devote more time to its core competencies.You prefer to get all the new features fastReliability as Office 365 offers 99.9 % SLAA Web interface that allows in-house administration of some tasks as well as a view of the

security environment and on-going activities.

When not to choose this model?Your organization’s policy doesn’t permit the use of cloud servicesWhen you prefer to have compete control over the environment .You have mission critical customizations/solutions that might break by latest

patchesYou have very complex customizations in place and it’s quite impossible to

implement that in SharePoint Online .Let’s not forget that SharePoint Online doesn’t support farm solutions till

date If your concerned about the network bandwidth

Licensing requirements :Subscription model, no additional licenses needed Office 365 service families and plans:

To know in detail about office 365 plans:• Try this link :_

https://products.office.com/en-in/business/compare-more-office-365-for-business-plans

Signing up for office 365 trial plan :• http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/9eb7c5/how-to-sign-up-fo

r-a-free-office-365-trial-plan/

3. SharePoint hybrid :To put in simple words, in a Hybrid environment, you get the best of both worlds(i.e. on-

premises and online). But instead of having a disconnected experience you have a connected experience where you get to enjoy the features/functionalities of both the worlds.

Overview :When you have an Office 365 tenant And you have on-premises services 1. SharePoint Server 2013 2. Exchange Server 2013 3. Skype for Business Server 2013 (formerly known as Lync Server)

You can choose a hybrid deployment model In order to leverage Office 365, SharePoint , Exchange ,Skype for

Business and Azure to suit your business needs.Let’s get into the details ….

Hybrid Features:

Hybrid OneDrive for Business Hybrid site features 1. Hybrid site following 2. Hybrid profiles 3. Hybrid extensible app launcherHybrid Search 1. Hybrid federated search 2. Cloud hybrid searchExtranet SharingOffice Graph/Delve SharePoint Hybrid Auditing (Preview) Was introduced in Feature pack 1 for SP 2016SharePoint Hybrid Taxonomy (Preview) Was introduced in Feature pack 1 for SP 2016

Hybrid OneDrive for Business:

Available in SharePoint 2013 SP1 and SharePoint 2016With hybrid OneDrive for Business, users’ work-related files are stored in OneDrive for

Business in Office 365.Replaces the requirement for your organization to host the on-premises OneDrive for

Business storage offered with the personal sites. When activated, users can click the OneDrive link in SharePoint on-premises and they will

be redirected automatically to their OneDrive for Business in Office 365.

Hybrid site following :Available in SharePoint Server 2013 ( with SP1 and Sep 2015 PU) and SharePoint 2016Without the hybrid site following, users had to go to two places to see the sites they

are following as there was no integrated experienceNow with hybrid site following you can follow sites from both on-premises SharePoint

and SharePoint Online locations and they are consolidated in the SharePoint Online followed sites list.

The SharePoint newsfeed functionality is unaffected. Users will continue to have separate newsfeeds in SharePoint Server and Office 365, and each will show activities for sites and documents for SharePoint Server and Office 365, respectively.

Also, follow documents functionality remains unaffected, and follow people functionality remains in SharePoint Server only

User experience :

Hybrid Profiles and App launcher:Hybrid profiles: With hybrid sites features, hybrid profiles are in effect. Instead of the on-premises My Sites user profile,

users are directed to their own Delve profile in Office 365.Hybrid extensible app launcher: Available both in SharePoint Server 2013 ( needs July 2016 PU) and SharePoint server 2016You can use the extensible hybrid app launcher to offer new apps that hyperlink to sites or web

applications with their own custom icon. Users can use this to pin any of these apps as tiles to their app launcher for quick access. When users pin these to their app launcher, they automatically appear in the on-premises SharePoint Server 2016 app launcher.

Hybrid Search:There are two types of hybrid search: 1. Cloud hybrid search 2. Hybrid federated searchAvailable in SP2013 ( requires SP1 with Jan 2016 CU ) and SharePoint Server 2016 Beta 1

Cloud Hybrid search:• With cloud hybrid search, search results come from one search index.

Hybrid federated search:

• With hybrid federated search, search results come from two indexes

Extranet Sharing and Delve:Extranet SharingCreating an extranet in an on-premises environment is going to be quite complex . In Office 365 you can easily invite partners using a Microsoft account so you don’t need to

manage accounts and you don’t need to open your network to the outside world

Office Graph/Delve Delve is an Office 365–hosted product and provides a personalized view of content from

SharePoint Online sites and OneDrive for Business that is relevant to users.As mentioned in the previous section when we discussed hybrid search, if cloud hybrid search is

configured, Delve and Office Graph can be integrated with on-premises content.

SharePoint Hybrid Auditing and Hybrid Taxonomy :

Hybrid Auditing:With Hybrid Auditing SharePoint Administrators now have visibility to user's file access activities in their SharePoint 2016 on-premises farms or in their SharePoint Online sites.

Hybrid Taxonomy:Allows SharePoint administrators to create shared taxonomies (managed metadata) between their on-premises SharePoint Server 2016 and SharePoint Online. With SharePoint hybrid taxonomy, changes and updates to your SharePoint Online taxonomy are replicated to your SharePoint Online sites as well as your SharePoint Server 2016 sites.

References for SharePoint Hybrid :SharePoint Server 2013 • Configure hybrid OneDrive for Business in SharePoint Server 2013• Configure hybrid sites features in SharePoint Server 2013• Configure the hybrid extensible app launcher in SharePoint Server 2013• Configure cloud hybrid search in SharePoint Server 2013SharePoint Server 2016 • Configure hybrid OneDrive for Business in SharePoint Server 2016• Configure hybrid sites features in SharePoint Server 2016• Configure cloud hybrid search in SharePoint Server 2016

When to choose this model?Your policy permits the use of cloud services and you also have the necessary

resources to build and support your on-premises environment as well.Customers who want to bring the benefits of the SaaS SharePoint Online service

to their organization and then move workloads to the cloud at a pace of their choice.

External sharing and collaboration instead of setting up an extranet. Developing cloud skill sets in a safe way that doesn't introduce unnecessary risk

to your organization. Reducing your SharePoint on-premises footprint. Charting a supported, safe and viable course for your SharePoint environment

into the future.

When not to choose this model?Your organization’s policy doesn’t permit the use of cloud servicesYou don’t require access to SharePoint beyond your organization’s

firewalls .You have very complex customization in place and it’s quite

impossible to implement that in SharePoint Online .Let’s not forget that SharePoint Online doesn’t support farm solutions

till date

Architecture tasks :Plan network connectivity between on-premises and SharePoint Online in

Office 365 Plan server-to-server trusts and certificates. Plan for identity synchronization by choosing the right identity model Plan User Profile migration to SharePoint Online. Plan for a dedicated on-premises search farm which is patched with Aug

2015 CU or higher for SharePoint Server 2013.Decide which features to integrate and workloads to move Plan for moving your OneDrive for Business content to OneDrive for Business

in SharePoint Online before implementing OneDrive for Business redirect.

Licensing requirements :

For SharePoint Online :Office 365 — Subscription model, no additional licenses needed.

For SharePoint on-premises:

SharePoint 2016 :Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016 64-bit versionSQL Server 2014 SP1 and SQL Server 2016 ( SQL Server Express is not supported ) 64-bit

versionSharePoint 2016 Server License SharePoint 2016 Client Access License SharePoint 2013 :Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 64-bit versionSQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 and SQL Server 2012 64-bit versionSharePoint Server 2013 Server License SharePoint Server 2013 Client Access License

SharePoint IaaS: Offload your servers to a IaaS service provider and maintain complete control of your SharePoint 2013/2016 environment.

This session will mainly focus on Azure.

SharePoint in Azure:

Overview :Use Azure IaaS to host a SharePoint 2013/2016 farm. Best native cloud platform for SQL Server and SharePoint. Computing resources are available almost immediately with no commitment. SharePoint on IaaS is not “ SharePoint in the cloud “Focus on applications, instead of datacenters and infrastructure. SharePoint solutions can be accessible from the Internet or only accessible from

an on-premises environment through ExpressRoute or a site-to-site VPN tunnel. Customizations are not limited. Microsoft says that 80 % of that market place deployments on Azure is made on

SharePoint

Architecture tasks :Design the Azure virtual network, with addressing, subnets, and DNS.Design domain environment and integration with on-premises servers. Extend the on-premises domain through a cross-premises connection, users access

the SharePoint farm via your intranet as if it were hosted on-premises. Use the same on-premises Active Directory and DNS implementation.Design availability sets and storage accounts Design the SharePoint farm topology and logical architecture Design high availability with Microsoft Azure availability sets and update domains. Choose virtual machines sizes Create and configure load balancers. Expose external web ports for public access, if needed. Design the disaster recovery environment.

Choosing the Active Directory domain type for Azure:

Option Description

Dedicated domain You can deploy a dedicated and isolated Active Directory domain to Azure to support your SharePoint farm. This is a good choice for public-facing Internet sites.

Extend the on-premises domain through a cross-premises connection(required for disaster recovery environment )

When you extend the on-premises domain through a cross-premises connection, users access the SharePoint farm via your intranet as if it were hosted on-premises. You can take advantage of your on-premises Active Directory and DNS implementation.A cross-premises connection is required for building a disaster-recovery environment in Azure to fail over to from your on-premises farm.

When to choose this model?For accessing public-facing sites that use Microsoft Azure AD for accounts and

authentication. Quickly setting up and tearing down dev, test and staging environments. To create a DR farm instead of investing on a secondary datacenter in a

different region.If using a cloud platform is important for your business requirements, consider

a standard or customized implementation of SharePoint 2013/2016 hosted in Azure infrastructure services.

SharePoint solutions are much easier to support in Azure than other non-native Microsoft public cloud platforms

App farms to support Office 365 or on-premises environments (Build, test, and host apps in Azure to support both on-premises and cloud environments.)

When not to choose this model?When you really haven’t done enough research on choosing Azure for

SharePoint Beware-A wrong implementation of SharePoint on Azure could cost you a

fortune and will put your business on risk.When you prefer to have the complete control of the entire environment When you don’t have proper network bandwidth .Let’s not forget that SQL PaaS still doesn’t support SharePoint on Azure

Licensing requirements : Microsoft Azure subscription SharePoint Server 2013/2016 Server License SharePoint Server 2013/2016 Client Access License

Responsibilities to be mindful of:

Data governance & rights management – You should classify your sensitive data and ensure it is protected and monitored wherever it is stored and while it is in transit.

Client Endpoints – Establish, measure, and enforce modern security standards on devices that are used to access your data and assets.

Account & access management – Establish a profile for normal account activity and be alerted for unusual activity.

Identity - Use credentials secured by hardware or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all identities.

Survey results:

According to Gartner on 2013 and repeated by Microsoft at their Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC13) in Houston, in the next 6-8 years:

35% of existing SharePoint customers will never move to the cloud15% will become “pure cloud” customers50% will adopt a hybrid SharePoint platform

Contd…One year later, at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington DC

(WPC14), a senior Microsoft leader admitted hybrid was bigger than earlier estimated:• 15-20% of existing SharePoint customers will never

move to the cloud• 10% will become “pure cloud” customers• 70-75% will adopt a hybrid SharePoint platform

Till date most of the SharePoint customers use on-premisesIn 2016 Microsoft Ignite this year, it was announced that Office 365 will be

the main focus for SharePoint hereafter .

Office 365 adoption details :

Consumption by application and industry:

Usage by Industry :

Conclusion :SharePoint provides the same rich set of capabilities no matter how you

architect your deployment. The main difference between these four architectures is which IT

responsibilities you own, and which you pay Microsoft to support through your subscription.

It’s very important that being a SharePoint professional you choose the right architecture that best suits your business and satisfies your customers ….

Cloud is not an option , it’s a necessity Always remember , SharePoint is not just meant for ECM and

collaboration .It make wonders .Happy SharePointing …..Thanks for watching !!!!

Questions