RealSharePoint.com

 

Microsoft just released a knowledge base article that will likely send shivers down the backs of SharePoint administrators around the globe.  According to Microsoft, the STSADM command MergeContentDB may fail when attempted on a site collection bigger than 10GB.  Not exactly comforting news.  But the really scary part is that running the command for collections over 10GB can cause both the source and the destination databases to become corrupted.  (Ughh.)

 

Here's what Microsoft had to say:
   

"Under certain circumstances, the STSADM MergeContentDB command may fail in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. These circumstances include combinations of significant site collection size, user traffic, and SQL Server load. When the STSADM MergeContentDB command fails, both the source and destination databases can be corrupted."

 

It's not fun to hear that an STSADM command regularly used by admins can corrupt Content DB's.  But it does speak to the importance of having a powerful SharePoint backup and recovery solution, so you can restore your data swiftly and with full fidelity should corruption occur.  And in case you're looking for such a solution, I happen to have the inside scoop on the most powerful and cost-effective solution in the industry.