SharePoint Architecture

SharePoint Architecture consists of several key components that work together to provide a flexible platform for collaboration, document management, and enterprise content management. Below is a breakdown of the architecture:

1. Presentation Layer

Web Applications: Host site collections and provide access to users via a URL.
Site Collections: A collection of sites that share common features and permissions.
Sites: Individual web sites within a site collection that can host lists, libraries, pages, and more.

2. Service Layer

SharePoint Services: Various services that provide specific functionalities, such as Search, Managed Metadata, User Profile, and more.
Application Services: These services run on the SharePoint server and provide capabilities to web applications.

3. Data Layer

Content Database: Stores the content of site collections, including site structure, documents, and lists.
Configuration Database: Stores configuration settings for the SharePoint farm.
Service Application Databases: Additional databases for specific service applications like User Profile or Search.

4. Farm Architecture

SharePoint Farm: A collection of one or more SharePoint servers that work together to provide SharePoint services.
Web Front-End Servers (WFE): Handle user requests and serve SharePoint content.
Application Servers: Host services such as Search and User Profile Services.
Database Servers: Host SQL Server instances that store SharePoint data.

5. Security and Permissions

Authentication Providers: Such as Windows Authentication, Forms-Based Authentication, and claims-based authentication.
Authorization: Control access to content through permissions at the site, list, and item levels.

6. Development Model

SharePoint Framework (SPFx): A modern development model for building SharePoint applications using client-side technologies.
Add-ins: Extend the functionality of SharePoint via SharePoint-hosted or Provider-hosted add-ins.

SharePoint architecture is designed to be scalable and flexible, enabling organizations to customize it according to their business needs. Understanding this architecture is crucial for effective management and optimization of SharePoint environments.