SharePoint WebDAV & Documents Integration

wedge1988

hi all,

another query (this time its different!)

Im looking into integrating our staff's my documents into sharepoint. (and by this i dont mean that im going to copy files into the database)

What i thought about doing was:

• Using the page viewer web part to link to their home folder
• Using WebDAV to allow access through HTTP
• Using ISA server link translation to translate the links

Whats your opinions? any ideas about it working / not working?

RobertKaucher

My only question would be why? Are you using MOSS or WSS? If you are using MOSS they can set up a "My Site" and use that. If they are documents that really need to be accessed from outside the network they can and probably should be added to a document library. Don't forget you can add libraries as mapped network drives for easy access. This just means you have to plan and organize libraries very, very well.

I worry that this might be one of those cool things you might try that would just complicate your design and really contribute to your need to manage the network more (that is, make your job harder, but give very limited value to your users).

wedge1988

Hi Rob,

Its not a bad idea, but i agree with you on the admin side.

I havnt looked into mysites for users yet. Im going to eventually, ill just have to look at the space requirements etc.

I was under the impression that adding a shared location as a library, then trying to access it from the internet wouldnt work. How would the names translate? AAM?

RobertKaucher

You are correct. That way would not work. What you would do would be to host the user home directories in a document library. Then they would be able to access them via the web. But only you can decide what's best for your environment. SP has issues hosting databases, for example. So is you have users storing small dbs there, might be a bad idea.

But like I said... If these are documents that are important enough to require access from outside the company, they probably need to be stored on the MOSS any way.

wedge1988

You're probably right about the documents issue. Its definitely not a good idea to have all their work in databases... issues with programs, uggh. lol.

Ill run my theory in a test lab, and see how i get on with it... Ill look for other solutions in the meantime.

thanks rob!

RobertKaucher

Good luck and let us know. I do think your idea with page viewer would work, though.

wedge1988

havnt had time to try this one yet, but salamandersoft offer a solution, albeit pricey. grr