In this post we are going to explain the difference between SharePoint OnPrem Vs SharePoint Online.
- Basic Differences
SP On Premises SP Online - The SharePoint server farm is within the corporate network.
- The IT Support team maintains the SharePoint farm and regularly applies Microsoft patches and updates.
- On premise, Active directory is used for authentication.
- Full access to use and customize any SharePoint feature as needed.
- Availability of Enterprise level services such as BCS, Performance Point, etc.
- The SharePoint sites reside in the Microsoft Data Centre (MDC).
- Microsoft applies the patch regularly.
- Microsoft’s SLA ensures 99.9% availability.
- Microsoft’s global network of data centers provides reduced latency and high network bandwidth.
- Support for Client Side Object & App model.
- Feature Comparisons – All the basic functionality of SharePoint remains the same, there are a number of significant feature differences between On Premises and Online
Category On Premises Online Product Features Support for enterprise feature, Office web App (OWA) needs to be installed Missing or limited features, pre-configured features Infrastructure deployment & maintenance IT Support Team to deploy/manage farm, latest updates or patches not always deployed. Microsoft manages the environment and ensures all updates and patches are deployed. Business Continuity (BC) Dependent on internal capabilities. Microsoft built-in redundancy and failover for data centers, but does not provide end user backups or data recovery. Cost Involved Purchase/Maintain Hardware, Software licenses etc. Annual subscriptions for Office 365 Plans billed on a per user basis. Customization Options Full support for server side code and client side code, App usage from OAC and SAS Full Support- Client Side, Limited Support-Server side, can use Apps from OAC or SAS Compliance Standard Dependent on internal capabilities. Verified by third party authors Information Security Dependent on internal capabilities. Information in MDS meets industry-specific security standards Storage needs Expensive storage devices, Site Collection -More than 100GB, Scalable Storage Size Cheap storage cost, Site Collection- up to 100Gb, Maximum content in single tenant -O365 plan based Development Full trust solution can be deployed- Features in farm solutions can have scope as wide as the site collection, web application, or whole farm Public facing website with much of customization is possible Custom “Managed Path” allowed More control can be delegated to power users Full trust solution and Sandbox cannot be deployed- Allowed More control cannot be delegated to power users and maxim privilege level is Site Collection level. - Technical Comparisons –
Services Online On Premises Search Limited access to query Full text Query InfoPath Form Services Only in E3, E4 and K1 plans Required License to use InfoPath Form Services Claim Bases Authentication N/A Can use SQL , LDAP and AD authentication Managed Accounts N/A Provides a Managed Account to user at access the SP Admin Services Usage reporting and Logging N/A Provides LOGS and Reporting to check the exceptions and System Report. Alternate Access Mapping N/A Provides a map requests where the URL of a Web request received by Internet Information Services (IIS) differs from the URL that was typed by a user SharePoint Health Analyser N/A Site collection pre-upgrade health check examines a site collection and then generates a report listing ay potential upgrade issues and how to address the issues - SharePoint OnPrem Prons and Cons
Pros Cons Control Performance Cost of internal resources (staff, hardware, software, etc) Scale Up and Scale Out Additional Geographic redundancy costs Reduces Bandwidth requirements Disaster Recovery dependent on internal capabilities Fully Customizable Scale Up/Out Cost( SW/HW) Full Server and SQL Database Patching Servers/farms Migrate as Needed Extra configurations for External Collaboration Seamless Single Sign on with Corporate Active Directory - SharePoint Online Prons and Cons
Pros Cons Uptime 99.99% More ISP Bandwidth Multiple Data centers Limited Customizations Geographically redundant Possible Storage Costs Shorted release cycle Recovery SLAs Managed Services (SaaS) No Server access Pay as you go (Low Cost) Reduced impact on internal IT resources Scalability