Microsoft SharePoint Frustrations

SharePoint Frustrations

In Michael Noel’s article, “5 SharePoint Frustrations You Can Overcome” (April 2010, InstantDoc ID 103567), I read something that I don’t totally agree with. I've seen this error a few times, so I felt the need to comment.

Regarding Noel's "Content Database Management" section, it's possible to use the Central Administration GUI to determine which content database your new site collection will be created in. The solution isn't elegant, but it works for creating site collections in new and existing content databases and doesn't require that you use Stsadm. Follow these steps:

1. In the Application Management section, access the Content Databases link.
2. In the upper right corner, make sure you're in the correct Web Application. If you aren’t, change to the correct one.
3. Click the link for each Content Database you have listed under the Database Name heading.
4. When the Manage Content Database Settings page opens, set the Database Status to Offline, then click OK. The system will take you back to the Manage Content Databases page, where the database you just changed should now appear as Stopped.
5. Click the Add a Content Database link, and create a new content database. Don't make any changes to the Database Status setting. It will appear as Started in the list of Content Databases. You'll also notice that the Current Number of Sites will equal 0.
6. Navigate to the SharePoint Site Management section, and create your new site collection.
7. Return to the Manage Content Databases list, and you'll see that the Content Database you just created now shows that the Current Number of Sites equals 1 Microsoft MCTS Training.

You've just created a new site collection in the content database of your choice. As long as a content database is in the Stopped state, no new site collections can be created within that content database. You can still create sites—or, more accurately, Webs—but not site collections.

If you had 15 content databases in the list, and all were in the Stopped state, and you tried to create a new site collection, SharePoint would throw an error message. Pick the content database you want your new site collection to reside in, set the state to Started, and you'll be able to create the site collection in the database you want MCITP Certification.