Client solutions for WAN environments

Many organizations include users who are distributed across WAN links and users who are not always connected to the network. A new TechNet article for our SharePoint customers - Client solutions for WAN environments (SharePoint Server 2010) describes client solutions that can be used across slow network connections or when users are offline. Given below are some solutions from the article:

Mobile views

In low bandwidth or high-latency environments — such as latencies of 300 milliseconds or more — mobile views can provide acceptable performance when they are used to navigate a site hierarchy, complete simple forms, and view textual data. To display a mobile view in a non-mobile browser, append ?mobile=1 to the URL of any SharePoint site.

To configure mobile views for lists and libraries, see Configure mobile views (SharePoint Server 2010).

Office Web Apps

Microsoft Office Web Apps are online companions to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft OneNote, which enable people to access files and do light editing in a browser without downloading and uploading files over low-bandwidth or high-latency connections. In most cases, opening files in a browser results in a faster time-to-first-page than opening files in one of the Microsoft Office 2010 client applications. Additionally, users in your organization can use browser-enabled cell phones and mobile devices to read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents that are stored on a SharePoint Server computer if views and content that are enabled for mobile access are published outside a firewall.

For more information about Office Web Apps, see Microsoft Web Apps Deployment.

Office 2010 Document Cache and the MS-FSSHTTP protocol

Office 2010 combined with SharePoint 2010 Products improves the experience of users who are using and managing files over slow network connections. Files that are open from SharePoint 2010 sites are downloaded by using asynchronous file transfer and cached locally. As a result, files open more quickly and users can start using the file before the download is complete. Additionally, only changes to files — not whole files — are transmitted between SharePoint 2010 Products and client computers. These capabilities are made possible by the new File Synchronization via SOAP over HTTP (MS-FSSHTTP) protocol.

For more information about the Upload Center and Office Document Cache settings, see Microsoft Office 2010 Upload Center and Office Document Cache settings.

Outlook 2010

Users can synchronize a SharePoint library, contact list, task list, project task list, and a certain type of SharePoint external list with Outlook 2010. Because many users of SharePoint 2010 Products also use Outlook 2010 to collaborate and coordinate activities and projects, the ability to synchronize these libraries and lists can help users become more efficient, especially when they are working offline or when access to SharePoint sites is not convenient.

For more information, see Synchronize SharePoint 2010 content with Outlook 2010.

SharePoint Workspace

Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010 is a client application for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 that supports online and offline collaboration. SharePoint Workspace 2010 lets users access and share content that is stored on SharePoint sites, even when users are not connected to corporate networks.

For more information, see What's new in SharePoint Workspace 2010.

SharePoint Workspace Mobile for Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 includes Microsoft Office Mobile, which lets users work with files from their telephones. Users can also use Microsoft SharePoint Workspace Mobile to take SharePoint 2010 files offline on the telephone. Users can open and edit the files, and then save them back to the SharePoint site when the users are back online.

For more information, see Office Mobile 2010 for Windows Phone 7.

SharePoint Workspace with Groove Server

SharePoint Workspace 2010 can also be used together with Microsoft Groove Server to provide peer collaboration that does not require all team members to be connected to SharePoint 2010 Products. Collaboration can be extended outside a private network to trusted partners and field sites.

For more information about SharePoint Workspace and Groove Server, see Plan for SharePoint Workspace 2010.

Summary of the solutions available

Client solutions for WAN environments

	Mobile views	Office Web Apps	Office 2010 Document Cache	Outlook 2010	SharePoint Workspace	SharePoint Workspace for Windows Phone 7	SharePoint Workspace and Groove Server
Slow network connections	Y	Y	Y	-	-	Y	-
Working offline	-	-	Y	Y	Y	Y	-
Working with team members who are disconnected	-	-	-	-	-	-	Y

 Scope of client solutions

	Mobile views	Office Web Apps	Office 2010 Document Cache	Outlook 2010	SharePoint Workspace	SharePoint Workspace for Windows Phone 7	SharePoint Workspace and Groove Server
Document	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
List	Y	-	-	Limited*	Limited*	Limited*	Limited*
Library	Y	-	-	Y	Y	Y	Y
Site	Y	-	-	-	Y	Y	Y
Site hierarchy	Y	-	-	-	Y	Y	Y

*Limited — not all list types are supported

Read the complete article here: Client solutions for WAN environments (SharePoint Server 2010)