New Architect > Archives > 2001 > 07 > Strategy Product Review

Under the Covers

By Chris Condon

In 1999, I attended the Microsoft Exchange Conference in Atlanta. I was eager to see which of the needed improvements over Exchange 5.5 the (then, soon-to-be-released) Exchange 2000 would offer. There were major enhancements in functionality, but the big news was in the underlying technology—the Web Storage System. Over the course of a few days, it became clear that Microsoft had important plans for this ingredient that went far beyond a mere email system. The Web Storage System's capabilities represent a fundamental change in the way we think about sharing data, rendering traditional file servers almost unnecessary.

The Web Storage System is an unexpected convergence of Web, database, and file sharing technologies. Inside, it's a database that can be accessed by any number of APIs. From a users' perspective, it looks just like a file server or Web server, depending on the interface the user chooses (for example, Windows Explorer or a Web browser). Every folder in the Web Storage System has what Microsoft calls a "unique, human-readable URL" associated with it.

SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Microsoft www.m