SharePoint File Share – Manage & Access File Shares in SharePoint

Store Files Using Existing File Storage Investments

Allow users to map custom Document Libraries to existing file systems, and optionally upload large files greater than SharePoint file limits.

SharePoint adoption initiatives can be a very daunting task, especially if your user base comes from a simple collaboration forum sharing documents on global network file shares. SharePoint provides the convenience of simple copy and paste to move existing file structures but at a cost. Each file you upload to SharePoint is in turn stored in the SQL Database. This can be a costly endeavor as precious database storage is taken up by the hundreds, potentially thousands of documents, and the existing storage investment goes to waste. But what if you could map SharePoint Document Libraries to your existing external file shares? Bamboo File Share Library provides the capability of connecting to your existing external file shares, allowing your existing hardware be your storage instead of the SharePoint content databases.

Bamboo File Share Library provides the capability of connecting to your existing external file shares, allowing your existing hardware be your storage instead of the SharePoint content databases. Beyond just a simple interface to your existing network file shares, File Share Library provides the option to allow users to upload files larger than the set SharePoint file limits and capabilities to store metadata of files that are deleted in the external file share, thus preserving valuable history.

Feature	Description
External File Share Storage	Associate the File Share Library to an external file share for file storage, saving valuable space in the content databases.
Familiar Library Interface	Fast and effective adoption from the user base as features such as upload and metadata management is unchanged from out-of-box SharePoint Document Libraries.
Link to Existing External File Shares	Associate File Share Library to an established external file shares for immediate use.
Scheduled or Manual Synchronization	Establish a schedule to synchronize the File Share Library with the associated external file share, or enable on-demand manual synchronization job from File Share Library.
Establish Data Integrity Rules	In SharePoint 2007, provide the rule (delete, archive, leave untouched) when a file is either imported or deleted in the File Share Library. If a file is deleted from the external file share, the associated file's status in the File Share Library is set to Lost to preserve the file's metadata. In SharePoint 2010, File Share Library provides additional granular rules, including: When a file is uploaded to File Share Library, is the file uploaded to the external file share, thus creating a link in File Share Library or is the file only uploaded to File Share Library. When a file is deleted from File Share Library, is the associated file in the external file share deleted or archived. When a file is deleted from the external file share, is the linked file in File Share Library updated with Lost status or deleted.
Promote Relevant Files	With File Share Library, begin promoting relevant files to SharePoint using "Mark File for Import" feature. This allows companies to migrate their external file shares to SharePoint without importing the entire file structure. Superior method to sift through years of data.
Multimedia Support	In SharePoint 2010, store video and audio files on an existing network file share-saving valuable content database space-and play and manage the media files in SharePoint by connecting File Share Library to a Bamboo Video Library (sold separately).

Since we created the File Share Library based on a standard SharePoint Document Library, the base functionality (security and settings) is the same for end users who are used to dealing with the standard SharePoint Document Library. The most important functionality enhancements that we added are:

Syncing the content of the network drive with the list.
Handling security for mapped items.

The File Share Library lets you automatically or manually sync a file share on your network using timer jobs which can be monitored from the SharePoint Central Administration. Automatic (i.e. Continuous) sync can be scheduled through the File Share Library Settings to run hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. You can also include a check for files that have been moved or deleted from the file share.

If you choose to sync manually, you can do so from the File Share Library toolbar as well as a one-time sync from the File Share Library Settings. Both the automatic sync and the one-time sync are scheduled jobs that run according to your job queue priority. The automatic sync job settings are saved in the web application properties, but the one-time sync is not saved.

A timer job is installed with the File Share Library. This job runs every 2 minutes and looks for jobs scheduled through File Share Libraries within web applications specified during install. For more information see About the Bamboo File Share Master Job in Bamboo Product Documentation Online.

Once the File Share Library has been synced with your file share, you can check out/in files, import file share files into the library permanently, upload files outside the file share directly to your File Share Library, view deleted or moved file share files, and automatically delete or move deleted library items or imported file share items to a specified archive location.