SharePoint List Scalability

Question

I am particularly interested in Document Libraries, but in terms of general SharePoint lists, can anyone answer the following...?

1. What is the maximum number of items that a SharePoint list can contain?
2. What is the maximum number of lists that a single SharePoint server can host?
3. When the number of items in the list approaches the maximum, does filtering slow down, and if so, what can be done to improve it?

Answer 1

In SharePoint v.2:

• Max # list items : 2000 (per folder level)
• Max lists per site : 2000 is a "reasonable" number
• Effect when we reach the limit : Exponential degradation of performance.

More info: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287743.aspx

In SharePoint v.3:

• Max # list items : 2000 (per view, you can have million items as long as you don't display in a single view more than 2000 items)
• Max lists per site : 2000 is a "reasonable" number
• Effect when we reach the limit : Exponential degradation of performance when we enumerate more than 2000 items using the OM. An alternative is to use Search API or CAML queries.

More info: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287790.aspx

Answer 2

Link To Resource

Answer 3

The whitepaper I found most useful was linked from the resource posted by user mbowles above. The direct link is...

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=95450&clcid=0x409

Answer 4

http://blah.winsmarts.com/2008-4-SharePoint_limits.aspx

for #3: you can index specific columns in a list, but you should still keep the sizes down.

Answer 5

The exact answers have already been given, however I do feel I should add this warning:
This might be one of those situations where if you have to ask, you can't afford it.
So if you find yourself approaching the limits posted earlier, think long and hard about what you are trying to do, and make sure you're not doing it wrong.

Answer 6

The "2000 limit" expressed above doesn't hold.

Please take a look at this document for more exact answers to your questions.

I personally experimented what the document describes.