Sharepoint Logical Architecture

Context: Sharepoint Logical Architecture (Web Application, Content Database, Site Collection)

Dave Wollerman wrote an interesting blog post and a great graphic about the logical architecture of Sharepoint. A quick summary:

• Farms host Web Applications
• One Web Application can have many Content Databases
• One Content Database can host several Site Collection’s
• The Central Administration and the SSP have each their own Web Application, Content Database and Site Collection
• Personal Sites are hosted in seperate site collections

Graphic referenced from the original blogpost.

Some important conclusio concerning using different site collections:

• If everything is within the same site collection you will result in a failed installation!
• Only site collections allow to establish a system of distributed administration.