SharePoint Resource

The latest insights from the SharePoint Experts

“Some or all identity references could not be translated” error when creating SharePoint 2010 web application.

Posted by lukecostin on April 26, 2012

I ran into a small but annoying issue yesterday while setting up a web application for one of our SharePoint 2010 environments.
The issue in question stated “Some or all identity references could not be translated” when it attempted to set up a web application using the AutoSPinstaller scripts as shown below.

Identity error

The issue can also occur when you attempt to register an account in the “Managed Account” Central Administration page.
After some investigation, I found that the reason for the issue was that the account name (along with it domain prefix) was exceeding 20 characters, which is the limit for all managed accounts.

If you change the managed account you are using to one below 20 characters (For example, changing the managed account from Domain\ServiceAccount15 to Domain\Servacct15) you should not experience this issue anymore.

Posted in SharePoint, SharePoint 2010, SharePoint Deployment | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Options for connecting an iPad to SharePoint 2010

Posted by Steve Jones on April 13, 2012

We’re coming across more and more educational establishments (typically universities but also some forward thinking schools) who are utilising SharePoint 2010 for their learning platform or at least storing learning content and are also deploying iPads.

Initially we were seeing that these awere typically being used by management staff but as the clear benefits were becoming more apparent wider trials & in some cases deployment to complete cohorts were becoming more prevalent.

We regularly get asked how devices such as iPads can link with the SharePoint content repository and there are a number of options for achieving this. If the need is to simply connect to SharePoint for a moment in time, maybe to read documents or view content then the SharePoint system can be configured to display to an iPad as it would with any other device via a browser. This, however, can be a bit of a limiting experience (e.g. dropdown nav doesn’t work well) and therefore the second option is to create a specific mobile interface which can contain a stripped down version of the normal user interface.

If however, the need is to take connect to SharePoint and then take content off-line then there are apps that can do this. I have so far evaluated 2 which are SharePlus & Colligo Briefcase. Both seem pretty good but on balance I like the Colligo product (although this may partly because I had access to the Enterprise version as a partner of theirs). The product allows the iPad to synchronise with a SharePoint library, take content offline, open content (e.g. PDF/Word) in a viewer and potentially (requiring a seperate product) then allow users to add redline text to the document (I’m thinking this is ideal for general unstructured student notes).

Although I’ve made reference to education establishments (which seems to be where the most requests are coming from) of course this would equally apply to any organisation.

Happy to discuss with anybody interested in more detail if you want to get in touch…

Posted in Uncategorised | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

The Fundamentals of Microsoft Licensing

Posted by tomshaw94 on January 6, 2012

To begin this blog I’ll explain to you exactly what a Microsoft License actually is. The software you are wishing to use is the intellectual property of Microsoft, and therefore the license you buy provides you with the right to use the software and also defines the conditions of use.

When buying your license there are many ways to purchase it. You could buy a Full Packaged Product (FPP). With FPP you purchase your license from a retailer, and it is typically one license to one box. This is usually the most expensive way of buying licenses, however it is the easiest. Another way of buying is Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) licenses. This type of license is preinstalled on a new computer; therefore the software lives and dies on that machine. This way of buying software is also, however, typically the cheapest way to buy licensing.  In addition to this another form of buying licensing is through Online Services. Online Services is where the technology is hosted on Microsoft’s, or a hosting partner’s, servers. The final way to buy your licenses would be through Volume Licensing. Through this way licenses are purchased through the reseller channel. There are also different programs to suit all kinds of organisations needing more than 5 licenses, I will cover this next.

Microsoft Licensing Programs

When finding the right licensing program for an organisation the following factors need to be considered: the size of the organisation, whether they want to buy or subscribe and rent the licenses,  whether they want Software Assurance or not and also whether they want to standardise the software on all PC’s in the organisation or not.

Open Licensing

  • 5-250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance Optional
  • Perpetual Licensing with up-front payment
  • 2 year agreement term
  • Online Services not offered

Open Value

  • 5-250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance is included
  • Perpetual Licensing with up-front payment or annual payment
  • 3 year agreement term
  • Online Services offered
  • Can be companywide standardised or not

Open Value Subscription

  • 5-250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance included
  • Non-perpetual with subscription payment every year on a rolling contract
  • Three year term, which is renewable
  • Online Services offered
  • Must be standardised

The above programs can be sold by any Microsoft reseller

Select (This program has been discontinued from 1/7/2011. However you still may encounter them so it is useful to know about them)

  • +250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance optional
  • 3 year agreement term
  • Perpetual Licensing with up-front payment or annual payment
  • Online Services offered

Select Plus

  • +250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance optional
  • No agreement expiration
  • Perpetual Licensing with up-front payment or annual payment
  • Online Services offered

Enterprise Agreement

  • +250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance included
  • Must be standardised
  • Perpetual License

Enterprise Subscription Agreement

  • +250 PC’s
  • Software Assurance included
  • Must be standardised
  • Non-Perpetual  License

Perpetual and Non-Perpetual Licenses

A Perpetual License allows you to own their software throughout the term of the licensing agreement and forever afterwards the ended term. Whereas a Non-Perpetual License is like a rental agreement, you subscribe to use the software throughout the term of the agreement.

Server Licenses and CALs

Purchase Server licenses for every server, and then also Client Access Licenses (CALs) for either users or devices:

  • A Device CAL is assigned to a device and allows multiple users to use the device.
  • A User CAL is assigned to a specific user and allows the user to use multiple devices with that CAL.

Standard and Enterprise CALs

Some server products offer different levels of functionality that can be accessed by users through different CALs. The core functionality offered by the server is linked to a Standard CAL. To gain the extra functionality of the product you must then purchase an Enterprise CAL on top of the Standard CAL.

Standard and Enterprise CALs can also be used to license External Users. This applies to products such as SharePoint Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010.

CAL Suites

For many organisations buying their CALs in suites can be very beneficial. It is the most cost effective way to buy a set of CAL’s for an organisation. They combine the most popular CALs in two packages, Core CAL Suite and Enterprise CAL Suite. They contain the following CALs:

Core CAL Suite

  • Windows Server Standard
  • Exchange Server Standard
  • SharePoint Server Standard
  • System Centre Configuration Manager
  • Lync Server Standard
  • Forefront Endpoint Protection

Enterprise CAL Suite (Everything Above Plus)

  • Active Directory Rights Management Services
  • Exchange Server Enterprise
  • SharePoint Server Enterprise
  • Lync Server Enterprise
  • System Centre Client Management Suite
  • Forefront Protection Suite
  • Forefront Unified Access Gateway

Posted in General | Leave a Comment »

Blog URL Changing

Posted by Gary Powell-Jones on January 3, 2012

The url for the Novotronix blog will be changing from http://sharepointresource.com to http://sharepoint-comments.com
Please update any permalinks that you may have

Posted in General | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Enrolment for Education Solutions (EES) Licensing

Posted by tomshaw94 on December 16, 2011

The Enrolment for Education Solutions License, or EES, became available to schools within the UK from the 1st of March 2011. This agreement can license a single school, a number of schools or an entire local education authority. The agreement is a contract type enrolment via an open value subscription. The subscription is a flexible volume licensing offer lasting for 3 years. After the 3 years there are a number of options to consider. Your first option is to extend your subscription under a one year licensing period. A second option to consider is submitting a new subscription enrolment under the three-year licensed period. A further option is that you allow the subscription to run out and then stop using the software. If you wish to buy your software you can convert to a perpetual license which is done through buy-out licenses. It should be noted that the costs of this can be significant and should be considered as part of the decision to choose this type of licensing.

To qualify for this license you must have a minimum of 5 FTE’s or more. FTE’s are staff that work more than 200 hours per year in school. The FTE’s get counted once every year which means that you don’t have to track every computer in the organisation.

Key Benefits:

  • Counting FTE staff once a year covers all staff and shared PCs
  • One annual payment at academic prices.
  • Access to the most up to date version of the licensed software
  • Access to software assurance benefits.
  • Working at home for staff users counted within the FTE count.
  • Licensed to run any version of the product includes product upgrades during the designated agreement.
  • Broad product selection available

There is a wide selection of Microsoft products available through the EES type of License.

The Education Desktop Platform package includes:

  • Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade.
  • Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010
  • Microsoft Core CAL Suite

The Enterprise Desktop Platform package includes all of the above plus an Enterprise CAL Suite.

There are also a number of additional products and services available through your EES License.  These additional products and services can be licensed in any quantity, ranging from a single license to organisation wide.  Examples of Additional products available include Windows Server, Exchange Server, Microsoft Office Visio, Microsoft Project and additional CALs or Microsoft Online Services.

Posted in General, SharePoint | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Entries
 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 48 other followers