Brainlitter » Considerations for storing files larger than 50MB in SharePoint

Considerations for storing files larger than 50MB in SharePoint

This question was raised in our little Canadian MVP circle today and I figured if I took the time to reply to the email, I could take the time to post the answer to the blog as well.

So… the default maximum file size for uploading to SharePoint is 50MB. This is of course very easily changed in Central Administration. (Note: the maximum file size, regardless of settings/preferences is 2GB). However, should you?

 

Here’s the question as it was asked…

What’s the ‘infrastructure bods’ view on 50-100Mb files being stored in SharePoint, and I’m talking about 1000’s. I doubt they are going to change or even be accessed that often.

What are the potential problems with this (backup, restore, SQL, etc)? Or is it all sweetness and light?

 

Here’s my reply to that email…

Providing proper planning, and considerations, 50-100MB files are fine – 1000’s of them could be problematic, so make sure you give the following proper consideration:

  1. Service Level Agreements for recovery – what is the SLA for restoring in the event of failure of disaster?
    1. Using the median of 75MB x 1000 = 75GB – how long does THAT take to backup (and more importantly restore)?  Take that time plus other factors such as:
      1. Noticing the failure
      2. Making a decision of what to do about the failure
      3. Implementing the recovery solution (restore/attach/fix)
      4. Testing it works
      5. Communicating it is up
    2. Assuming 75GB takes 2 hours to restore, plus the other factors, if you had to meet a 3 hour SLA, you may be unable to deliver or find yourself looking at more expensive/alternative recovery options
  2. Never mind the above assumption that there are ZERO (0) versions kept, if you turn on versioning, you are going to have X x Ymb files
  3. Finally, set expectations on the upload itself. Sure, SharePoint and a properly sized/implemented SQL server can handle this, but what about the network (Internet) connection involved.  What load is that placing on everyone else’s experience?  Is the link always reliable (GB/LAN or remote such as Broadband cable).  As SharePoint is maturing, so are the technologies that support it (better browsers, better QOS, more bandwidth, more acceptance of web server based applications), so the future is bright but be sure to manage expectations.  Consider timeouts, etc.

 

This does sound like a job for a dedicated Content DB for sure, at a minimum.

Sean