# storage related performance issues sharepoint

- Link: https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/
- Published: 2015-05-19T18:24:01+05:30
- Author: Deviprasad Panda

Here are five storage-related issues in SharePoint that can kill performance,
with tips on how to resolve or prevent them.

**Problem #1:**

**Unstructured data takeover**. The primary document types stored in SharePoint 
are PDFs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, and large Excel spreadsheets. These
documents are usually well over a megabyte.

SharePoint saves all file contents in SQL Server as unstructured data, otherwise
known as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs). Having many BLOBs in SQL Server causes several
issues. Not only do they take up lots of storage space, they also use server resources.

Because a BLOB is unstructured data, any time a user accesses a file in SharePoint,
the BLOB has to be reassembled before it can be delivered back to the user – taking
extra processing power and time.

**Solution:**

Move BLOBs out of SQL Server and into a secondary storage location – specifically,
a higher density storage array that is reasonably fast, like a file share or network
attached storage (NAS).

**Problem #2:**

**An avalanche of large media**. Organizations today use a variety of large files
such as videos, images, and PowerPoint presentations, but storing them in SharePoint
can lead to performance issues because SQL Server isn’t optimized to house them.

Media files, especially, cause issues for users because they are so large and need
to be retrieved fairly quickly. For example, a video file may have to stream at 
a certain rate, and applications won’t return control until the file is fully loaded.
As more of this type of content is stored in SharePoint, it amplifies the likelihood
that users will experience browser timeout, slow Web server performance, and upload
and recall failures.

**Solution:**

For organizations that make SharePoint “the place” for all content large and small,
use third-party tools specifically designed to facilitate the externalization of
large media storage and organization. This will encourage user adoption and still
allow you to maintain the performance that users demand.

**Problem #3:**

**Old and unused files hogging valuable SQL Server storage**. As data ages, it usually
loses its value and usefulness, so it’s not uncommon for the majority of SharePoint
content to go completely unused for long periods of time. In fact, more than 60 
to 80 percent of content in SharePoint is either unused or used only sparingly in
its lifespan. Many organizations waste space by applying the same storage treatment
for this old, unused data as they do for new, active content, quickly degrading 
both SQL Server and SharePoint performance.

**Solution:**

Move less active and relevant SharePoint data to less expensive storage, while still
keeping it available to end users via SharePoint. In the interface, it helps to 
move these older files to different parts of the information architecture, to minimize
navigational and search clutter. Similarly, we can “unclutter” the storage back 
end.

A third-party tool that provides tiered storage will enable you to easily move each
piece of SharePoint data through its life cycle to various repositories, such as
direct attached storage, a file share, or even the cloud. With tiered storage, you
can keep your most active and relevant data close at hand, while moving the rest
to less expensive and possibly slower storage, based on the particular needs of 
your data set.

**Problem #4:**

**Lack of scalability**. As SharePoint content grows, its supporting hardware can
become underpowered if growth rates weren’t accurately forecasted. Organizations
unable to invest in new hardware need to find alternatives that enable them to use
best practices and keep SharePoint performance optimal. Microsoft guidance suggests
limiting content databases to 200GB maximum unless disk subsystems are tuned for
high input/output performance. In addition, huge content databases are cumbersome
for backup and restore operations.

**Solution:**

Offload BLOBs to the file system – thus reducing the size of the content database.
Again, tiered storage will give you maximum flexibility, so as SharePoint data grows,
you can direct it to the proper storage location, either for pure long-term storage
or zippy immediate use.

It also lets you spread the storage load across a wider pool of storage devices.
This approach keeps SharePoint performance high and preserves your investment in
existing hardware by prolonging its useful life in lieu of buying expensive hardware.
It’s simpler to invest in optimizing a smaller SQL Server storage core than a full
multi-terabyte storage footprint, including archives.

**Problem #5:**

**Not leveraging Microsoft’s data externalization features**. Microsoft’s recommended
externalization options are Remote BLOB Storage (RBS), a SQL Server API that enables
SharePoint 2010 to store BLOBs in locations outside the content databases, and External
BLOB Storage (EBS), a SharePoint API introduced in SharePoint 2007 SP1 and continued
in SharePoint 2010.

Many organizations haven’t yet explored these externalization capabilities, however,
and are missing out on significant storage and related performance benefits. However,
native EBS and RBS require frequent T-SQL command-line administration, and lack 
flexibility.

**Solution:**

Use a third-party tool that works with Microsoft’s supported APIs, RBS, and EBS,
and gives administrators an intuitive interface through SharePoint’s native Central
Administration to set the scope, rules and location for data externalization.

In each of these five problem areas, you can see that offloading the SharePoint 
data to more efficient external storage is clearly the answer. Microsoft’s native
options, EBS and RBS, only add to the complexity of managing SharePoint storage,
however, so the best option to improve SharePoint performance and reduce costs is
to select a third-party tool that integrates cleanly into SharePoint’s Central Administration.
This would enable administrators to take advantage of EBS and RBS, choosing the 
data they want to externalize by setting the scope and rules for externalization
and selecting where they want the data to be stored.

 

### Share this:

 * [  X ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=twitter)
 * [  Facebook ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=facebook)
 * [  WhatsApp ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=jetpack-whatsapp)
 * [  Email ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20storage%20related%20performance%20issues%20sharepoint&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsharepointtechnicalsupport.com%2F2015%2F05%2F19%2Fstorage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues%2F&share=email)
 * [  Telegram ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=telegram)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=tumblr)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://sharepointtechnicalsupport.com/2015/05/19/storage-related-sharepoint-performance-issues/?share=pinterest)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_