Understanding SharePoint 2013 Code Deployment Models - Apps vs. Solutions

Nik Patel

Lead Solutions Architect, Slalom Consulting, Chicago Practice

Session Goals

Session Level - 200

Audience – SharePoint Architects and SharePoint Developers

Simple Goal – Understanding where Apps fits in SharePoint 2013 Development Landscape

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About Me

Nik Patel • Lead Solutions Architect, Slalom Consulting

• Working with SharePoint 2010 since Summer 2009 TAP

• Master in Computer Science from IIT, Chicago

Contact Info • Email – patenik2@yahoo.com

• Blog – Nik Patel’s SharePoint World -

http://nikspatel.wordpress.com/

• Twitter - @nikxpatel

• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/nikspatel

• Slideshare - slideshare.net/patenik2

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Session Agenda

Why New Code Deployment Model – SharePoint 2013 Apps?

Revisit Farm Solutions and Sandbox Solutions Models

Introducing SharePoint Apps as Code Deployment Model

Quick walkthrough of SharePoint Hosted Apps

In-depth Comparison of Solutions vs. Apps

Prescriptive Guidance of when to use SharePoint Solutions vs. Apps

Questions and Answers

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SharePoint 2013 Apps – Rumors, Humors, Opinions, and Level Set It’s too early to say how organization will adopt Apps Model

Apps are Crapps

Apps are not magic button

Both solutions and Apps are valid options

Apps supports No Server side code, Lots of Client side scripting

Don’t be confused with Server Side Code with SharePoint Server Side APIs

This is true for SharePoint Hosted Apps but you can have server side code in Cloud hosted Apps

Sandbox Solutions are deprecated

Microsoft’s meaning for deprecated is – Not preferred

Apps are preferred option over Sandbox Solutions

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Don’t listen to early opinions, Try it by yourself to decide..

What are SharePoint 2013 Apps? Independent, Self-contained, Scenario-based Applications

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Hmmm.. It’s self-

contained piece of

functionality that extend

the capabilities of a

SharePoint website!!!

Yeah..It’s a widget

or application I can

acquire to perform

my work or run

business regardless

of what technology

it is!!!

It’s an application whose interface is surfaced through

SharePoint but code runs somewhere elsewhere away from Servers or

Browser!!!

Solution Architect Developer Business User

Where can I Find Apps in SharePoint 2013? Independent, Self-contained, Scenario-based Applications

Everything in SharePoint 2013 are Apps including SharePoint Lists & Libraries (Kind of!!)

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Demo

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Quick walkthrough of SharePoint Apps

Why SharePoint 2013 Apps? It’s a fundamental shift from the traditional SharePoint customization and deployment model

All about End-Users – Consumerization through Apps Catalogs

Allows end-users to extend their sites without going through IT Channels

All about IT Pro - Stabilize the SharePoint Environment

Keep custom code away from Servers, Improved Outage & Upgrade stories

Orgs with At least 1 version upgrade with highly customized environment would appreciate Apps

All about Developers - Pieces to Packages

Apps trying to focus back on fully packaged and ready to use assembled custom solutions

All about Cross-Platform - Use Existing Skills to extend SharePoint

Rather than reinventing wheels in SharePoint, use existing technologies & skills to build new apps e.g. Bing Apps

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Apps are here to stay.. Embrace It with Caution..

Understanding SharePoint 2013 Custom Development Landscape Journey from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2013

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Revisit SharePoint Farm Level Solutions SharePoint’s First Generation Code Execution Model

What are they?

Supports Full Trust Code Model

Supports Full Server Side Object Model and Client Side Object Model APIs

Requires Solutions Run on the Server

Major limitations

Supported in On-Premises only, Not supported in SharePoint Online

No Marketplace

Requires big server touch, customizations deployed on servers

Root cause of most of SharePoint outages – Performance and Stability Concerns

Huge concerns for SharePoint Upgrade strategy

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Revisit SharePoint Sandbox Solutions SharePoint’s Second Generation Code Execution Model Microsoft’s first attempt to get away from Farm Level Solutions

What are they?

Available in both SharePoint Online & On-Premises

Requires Partial Trust Code Model

Major Benefits over Farm Solutions

Code runs on sandbox, Doesn’t require Access to Server

Can’t harm the SharePoint server, ideal for hosted environments

Major limitations

Just like Farm Solutions, No Marketplace

Severe restrictions and limited SharePoint APIs – No Database, No File System, No Web Services

Scoped only at the Site Collection Level, No Cross-Site Collection Access

Runs only under current user context, Can’t run code with administrative elevated privileges

Runs under complex resource monitoring system - Outage of Application if Resource Quota is exceeded

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Introducing SharePoint App Model – What are they? SharePoint’s Third Generation Code Execution Model Microsoft’s second attempt to get away from Farm Level Solutions

Major Benefits over Solutions Model

Based on a proven and familiar app model used in Mobile technologies

SharePoint business logic no longer live in SharePoint

Apps custom code executes in the client, cloud or on-premises

Apps can live in Public Marketplace or Private Corporate Marketplace

Apps have efficient end-user lifecycle – Install, Use, Manage, Upgrade, Remove

Apps will have better SharePoint Upgrade story – decoupled from SharePoint

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Apps Primer - Major Discussion Points Apps Building Blocks - Basics

App Models – What kind of Apps can be developed?

App User Experience

App Shapes – How does App integrated or consumed with SharePoint?

App Scopes – Where does App runs? Can App access data from other sites?

App Branding – How does App looks like when integrated with SharePoint – UX, Navigation, Seamless Experience?

App Interaction with SharePoint

App Integration – How does App access with SharePoint Data?

App Rights – How does App granted rights to consume SharePoint data?

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App Primer – App Hosting Models Three different approaches

SharePoint Hosted Apps

Apps hosted in SharePoint as isolated App web, SharePoint acts as file store to host Apps components like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript

No Server side code, business logic runs on JavaScript

Provider Hosted Apps

Apps hosted outside of SharePoint in IIS, Windows Azure, or other dedicated self-hosted Infrastructure

Apps can be built using ASP.NET or any other technologies like Java or PHP

Azure Auto Hosted Apps

Supported only in Office 365 at this moment, Azure subscription tied to Office 365

Auto provisions Azure web site and SQL Azure during Apps installation process

Note - Diagram from MSDN

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App Primer – App Experience via Shapes Three different ways to interact with Apps

• Takes entire browser & UI screen

• Stand-alone business solution e.g.

Office Web Apps, SharePoint Search

Site, My Site etc.

Part App Custom Action App

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• Action menu on Ribbon or ECB

to trigger App interaction

• Same as SharePoint 2010

• Behave in SharePoint just like

Web Parts e.g. Stocks App,

Weather App, Maps App

• Surfaced in SharePoint as Iframe

Immersive App

App Primer – App Experience (Continued ..) Seamless UI integration is key for successful App implementation

App Scopes

Apps are isolated and can’t communicate directly with each other

Web Scope

Apps resources live in App Web, can be deployed at Site or Site Collection level

Can use or register resources at Site or Site Collection Level

Tenant Scope

Only supported in cloud-hosted

Supports multi-tenancy and interaction with multiple site collections

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App Branding and UI Integration

App Templates

Default option when creating apps in VS

App page pulls CSS from hosting SharePoint

Chrome Control

Ideal for Cloud hosted Apps

JavaScript based control that allows custom apps to consume the CSS and styling of the parent App Web

Custom Branding

Full control over unique branding, Like SharePoint Search and My Site

App Primer – App Interaction with SharePoint Secure interaction with SharePoint

App Interaction

Apps can communicate with SharePoint using CSOM and REST based APIs

REST/CSOM supports now Taxonomy, Search, Publishing, User Profile, and many more APIs

App Rights

Apps can authenticate into SharePoint using OAuth or STS

SharePoint 2013 has new authentication model to authenticate SharePoint apps

App Permission request read/write/manage/full control maps to SharePoint permission levels read/contribute/design/full control

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Demo

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Quick Experience of SharePoint Hosted Apps

Apps vs. Solutions – Decision Time Multi-faceted in-depth comparison

Comparing Apps with Solutions from 6 different perspective

Architectural level

Custom Development Level

Deployment, Packaging, and Maintenance Level

Infrastructure Level

Business Strategy and Direction

Usability Perspective

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No clear winner.. It depends!!!!..

Apps Model is Not Magic Pill

Apps vs. Solutions – Architecture Decisions

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider

Hosted Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Supported

Environment

On-Premises Only,

No SharePoint

Online (Supported

in Dedicated SPO)

SharePoint Online and

On-Premises SharePoint Online

and On-Premises

SharePoint

Online and On-

Premises SharePoint Online Only

Code Execution

Model Full Trust Partial Trust Isolated Domain Isolated Domain Isolated Domain

Business Logic Runs

Under what Context? Browser or

SharePoint Context Browser or SharePoint

Context Only Browser

Context

Browser or Non-

SharePoint

Hosted Platform

Context

Browser or Non-SharePoint

Hosted Platform Context

Architectural

Complexity -

Requires Additional

Configuration to run

code?

Not Much (Only

Service Application

needs to be

activated)

Not Much (Only

Service Application

needs to be activated)

Yes, Little Bit

(Configure App

Domain)

Yes, Very Much

(Configure both

IIS and App

Domain)

Yes, Very Much (Requires

Windows Azure Skills as

well)

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Apps vs. Solutions – Architecture Decisions (Continued …)

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Code Scope Farm

Site Collection (Can't

cross site collection,

limited APIs within Site

Collection as well)

App Web (only web

or site collection)

App Web (only

web or site

collection) or

Tenant (can cross-

site collection in

same tenant)

App Web (only web or site

collection) or Tenant (can

cross-site collection in

same tenant)

Authentication &

Interaction with

SharePoint APIs

No Authentication

Required, Can run

on User or Admin

context

No Authentication

Required, can run only

in User Context

No Authentication

Required, can run

in App Context

OAuth or STS

Authentication

required

OAuth authentication is

required

Malicious Attack or

harm of SharePoint

environment due to

bad code

Yes (runs in same

process) No (runs in isolated

safe process)

May be (May be

too early to say

how OAuth will

work)

May be (May be

too early to say

how OAuth will

work)

May be (May be too early

to say how OAuth will

work)

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Apps vs. Solutions – Architecture Decisions (Continued …)

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Performance for

SharePoint Data

Access

High - Very efficient,

runs in main

application process

Medium - Runs in

dedicated isolated

Sandbox Process

Medium-Low

(Network & cloud

latency, Requires

CSOM or REST

connection points )

Medium-Low

(Network & cloud

latency, Requires

CSOM or REST

connection points )

Medium-Low (Network &

cloud latency, Requires

CSOM or REST

connection points )

Supports deep

integration with

SharePoint UI and

Look & Feel

Components

Yes Yes Partially (with web

parts and chrome

controls)

Partially (with web

parts and chrome

controls)

Partially (with web parts

and chrome controls)

Supports deep

integration with

SharePoint

Components &

Content (Lists,

Content Types,

fields, page layouts,

pages etc.)

Yes Yes Not Advisable

(CSOM and REST

APIs be limited)

Not Advisable

(CSOM and REST

APIs be limited)

Not Advisable (CSOM and

REST APIs be limited)

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Apps vs. Solutions – Custom Development Support

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox

Solutions SharePoint Hosted

Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Requires code running on

Server Yes Yes No No No

SharePoint Farm level

Administrative API Yes No No No No

Supported APIs - Server

Side Object Model Full

Partial - Subset

of Full Trust API No No No

Supported APIs - Managed

Client Side Object Model Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Supported APIs -

JavaScript Client Side

Object Model & REST APIs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Server Side Code - C# Yes Yes No Yes Yes

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Apps vs. Solutions – Custom Development Support (Continued…)

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox

Solutions SharePoint Hosted

Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Security - Run code with

administrative privileges Yes No

Yes (New App

Rights) Yes (New App

Rights) Yes (New App Rights)

Apart from .NET, any Non-

Microsoft Server Side

technologies Supported (e.g.

Java, PHP, LAMP etc.)

No No N/A Yes Limited (Azure supports

only .NET Framework,

Java, PHP & Node.js)

Allows you to take benefits on

latest/future Sever Side

technologies - newer version of

ASP.NET MVC or .NET

No No No Yes Yes

Allows you to take benefits on

latest/future Client Side

technologies - newer version of

ASP.NET MVC or .NET

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

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Apps vs. Solutions – Custom Development Support (Continued…)

Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Requires Local Farm or

Development Environment

for Developers Yes Yes No No No

Remote deployment and

debugging from Visual

Studio No No Yes Yes Yes

Developer Productivity,

less complex moving

parts High High

Medium (New

Technology)

Medium (New

Technology)

Medium (New Technology)

Custom Timer Jobs or

Farm Integration Yes No No No No

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Apps vs. Solutions – Deployment, Packaging, and Maintenance

Farm Level Solution Sandbox Solutions SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Requires Server Access

for customizations Yes No No No No

Requires outage of

Application during

deployment

Yes, requires IIS

Reset Partially, During Upgrade

Partially, During

Upgrade Partially, During

Upgrade Partially, During

Upgrade

Upgrade Concerns Yes No No No No

Maintenance Story -

Install/Upgrade/Uninstall Good (Requires

disciplined approach)

OK (Better than farm level

but requires discipline for

large # of Site Collections) Great Great Great

Terminates the Process

in case of failure

Yes (code runs under

same IIS worker

process)

Yes (site collection locks

down if resource quota

exceeded)

No (Only

functionality

outage)

No (Only

functionality outage) No (Only

functionality outage)

IT Pros Concerns High (farm solutions

may cause damage

and server touch)

Medium (can't affect

server resources, depends

on resource quota)

Low (No Server

Side code)

Low (Hosted on

Non-SharePoint

environment)

Low (Hosted on Non-

SharePoint

environment

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Apps vs. Solutions – Infrastructure

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Farm Level

Solution Sandbox

Solutions SharePoint Hosted

Apps Provider Hosted Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Additional Hardware,

Software, and Licensing No No

No (hosted in

SharePoint) Yes (App Domain on

dedicated server) Yes (Windows Azure

Subscription)

Additional Capacity

Planning No No

Yes (But stored in the

same site collection

content database)

Yes (Additional data

storage) Yes (Additional data

storage)

Business Continuity -

DR, Backup-Restore

SP Backup &

File System for

Customizations SP Backup Only SP Backup Only

Requires Additional

Consideration Requires Additional

Consideration

Load-balancing &

Redundancy SharePoint

Farm SharePoint

Farm SP Backup Only

Requires Additional

Consideration Requires Additional

Consideration

Additional Subscription

Fees No No No

Yes (only for OAuth for

ACS integration, not for

STS or High-Trusted)

Yes (tied with Office

365 subscription)

Apart from IIS, any Non-

Microsoft Server Side

technologies Supported No No

No (hosted in

SharePoint) Yes (Any stack)

Yes, only Windows

Azure

Apps vs. Solutions – Business Direction

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Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Distribution via

Marketplace No No Yes Yes Yes

Supports Business

Strategy - No Custom

Code on SharePoint No No Yes Yes Yes

Supports Business

Strategy - Less

Hardware, Software,

Licensing Budget &

Architecture Complexity

Yes Yes Yes No No

Decoupling business

solutions from

SharePoint No No Yes Yes Yes

Apps vs. Solutions – Usability Perspective

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Farm Level

Solution Sandbox Solutions

SharePoint

Hosted Apps Provider Hosted

Apps Azure Hosted Apps

Who Installs and

Uninstalls Farm Admin Site Collection Admin

End-Users

(IT still required for

Administration)

End-Users

(IT still required for

Administration)

End-Users

(IT still required for

Administration)

Search Farm/App

Solutions Data Yes Yes

No (Search can’t

crawl App Web)

Yes (requires

additional

consideration)

Yes (requires additional

consideration)

Collaborative Solutions (Side by Side existence

of Applications and

Data)

Yes Yes No No No

Seamless Experience

while browsing Apps

and SharePoint Yes Yes No No No

Prescriptive Guidance of when to use SharePoint Solutions vs. Apps Golden rules when to use which APIs

Use Apps whenever you can – Requires philosophical change architecting SharePoint Applications

Keep in mind - Apps are limited to what CSOM and REST API Supports

Use Apps for decoupling independent business applications (e.g. scenario based applications)

Use SharePoint Hosted Apps for small, reusable standalone applications (e.g. stocks, maps, RSS feeds, social integrators etc.)

Use Provider Hosted Apps for large corporate business applications (e.g. Time sheet system, budget tracking application)

Use Azure Auto Hosted Apps for wide-reach, public market place, scalable solutions

Avoid Apps & Use Farm Level or Sandbox solutions for tight UI and features integration

Use Farm or Sandbox Solutions for SharePoint Deep Integrated Applications (e.g. Collaborative Applications)

Use Apps or Sandbox Solutions to take away code from server & minimize risk to the farm for better upgrade stories in future

Use Farm Level solutions for administrative interfaces to extend SharePoint functionalities

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Additional Apps Resources

Microsoft

Developer Ignite Training Videos - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/office/apps/fp123626

Build Apps for Office and SharePoint - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/apps/fp160950.aspx

3 Parts Series of Inside apps for Office and SharePoint - http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Inside-apps-for-Office-and-SharePoint

Community

Andrew Connell's Understanding SharePoint 2013 Apps -http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/archive/2012/07/16/understanding-sharepoint-2013-apps-aka-apps-101.aspx

Ted Pattison's Apps Series - http://blog.tedpattison.net/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=14

Chris O' Brien's Series - SharePoint apps: working with the app web, and why you should - http://www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com/2012/09/sharepoint-apps-working-with-app-web.html

Analben Mehta’s 30 Articles series for Apps development for SharePoint - http://aanuwizard.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/30-articles-series-for-apps-development-for-sharepoint/

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© 2011 Slalom Corporation. All rights reserved. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Slalom Corporation as of the date of this presentation.

SLALOM MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.