Best Practices for Volume Administration
Volume size
You will need to monitor the size of your volumes to make sure that they do not grow too large. If a volume grows too large for the hard drive on which it is stored, users will no longer be able to add documents, pages, and certain other information to that document. Furthermore, if you are using backup or archival media (such as CDs or DVDs), you will want to ensure that the volume does not become too big to back up on that media.
For these reasons, you should consider limiting the size a volume can grow to. The easiest way to do so is through the Size limit option, which limits volumes to an administrator-defined size, specified in megabytes (MB). Although this will limit your volumes from growing significantly beyond the specified size limit, it will not create a new volume when the current one gets full. As a result, users will receive an error when adding content to that volume. To avoid this situation, you should take advantage of logical volumes. See the Volume Rollover section for more information.
Each of these factors plays a role in establishing the usability, reliability, and performance of storing data in Laserfiche volumes.
Naming convention
The name assigned to a volume can help identify its contents or characteristics. For example, if you store documents by the time created, you know that every document associated with that volume was created during a specific time period.
Before deciding on a naming convention, keep in mind that the type of naming convention your organization should use depends on how you plan on using volumes. If you plan on distributing data by publishing or exporting a volume, you probably want to use a naming convention that provides more information about the documents contained in it. For example, you might want to only distribute a certain type of document or documents that were generated from a particular department.
On the other hand, if you do not plan to distribute data by volumes on a regular basis, you should choose a volume naming convention that allows members of your organization to quickly decide on the volume that should be assigned to a new document. For example, if you decide on a time-based volume naming convention, users do not have to constantly assess which volume should be assigned to a document. As long as the time period assigned to that volume (e.g., 2024, Quarter 1 2024, January 2024, etc.) still applies, they know they can continue creating or scanning documents into it.
Tip: Instead of sharing data through volumes, you can use briefcases or publish documents by folders. Both methods provide more flexibility than exporting a volume and reduce the amount of effort required to manage and use a document-specific naming convention for your volumes.
There are two things that you should look out for when storing data in volumes by time period. The first occurs when the specified time period expires. For example, if you decide to name your volumes by year (e.g., 2020, 2021, 2022, etc.), you will need to manually create a volume at the start of each new year. Additionally, you will need to make sure that users are trained to start using the new volume at the start of each new year. The second area of concern is the size to which a volume will grow during the given time period. It is recommended that you limit the size a volume can grow to, to ensure optimum performance and make volumes more manageable when archiving or backing them up.
One way you can limit volume size without more administrative overhead is to use volume rollover, which will automatically create a new physical volume when the current one reaches a given size. If you do not plan on using volume rollover, you will need to calculate the amount of data that needs to be stored during that time period and make sure that this amount is less than the maximum desired size for a volume. If it is not, then you will need to either choose a smaller time period, manually create a volume whenever the current one is filled up, or start using volume rollover.
Storage
When choosing the media on which you will store, archive, and/or back up volume data, you will need to consider the stability and reliability of the storage media, its performance, and its maximum capacity. You will also need to take into consideration any legal considerations or regulations regarding storage media; for instance, some sites may need to use Write Once Read Many (WORM) systems to remain compliant.
The importance of each of these factors varies according to the needs of your organization. A brief analysis of the more popular types of media is provided to help you decide which type is best suited to store volume data for your organization.
- RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks): A RAID system provides fault tolerance and improved performance over a single hard disk. Its capacity varies according to the hardware that you purchase, and capacity is relatively easy to add. It also costs less than a WORM system. Keep in mind that it is more volatile than an optical system. It is important that you monitor disk health on a daily basis to ensure uninterrupted access to volume data. If you choose to use a RAID system, we recommend that you use RAID 10, RAID 01, RAID 1, or RAID 5 to store volume data.
- SAN (Storage Area Network): A SAN allows storage to be shared among multiple servers using a direct and dedicated connection, which allows it to transfer data at a high speed without being slowed down by network traffic. Another benefit of a SAN is that it reduces administrative overhead. Instead of having to maintain multiple storage devices, you will only have to maintain a single one.
- NAS (Network Attached Storage):A NAS is a dedicated file server. A NAS system can offer higher performance than a single hard disk, requires less management, and can be more cost-effective than purchasing and maintaining a new file server.
- WORM (Write Once Read Many): A WORM system writes data on an optical disk. The storage capacity of a WORM system depends on the optical disks that you plan on using. Though the data transfer rate for this type of media is slow, the advantage is that it may be possible to use the WORM system to satisfy legal mandates that require that data cannot be altered after it has been written to disk. However, it is highly recommended that you consult a lawyer before implementing this type of system to satisfy legal requirements.
- Write Once Read Many (Software-Based): There are software-based Write Once Read Many systems, such as NetApp SnapLock. NetApp SnapLock combined with the Mark files as permanent option can simulate a Write Once Read Many solution for volume data storage. The Mark files as permanentoption marks all image, text, and electronic files associated with a volume as read-only. If you are storing that volume on a NetApp SnapLock system, those files become permanent and cannot ever be altered. The advantage is that it may be possible to use it to satisfy legal mandates that require that data cannot be altered after it has been written to disk. However, it is highly recommended that you consult a lawyer before implementing this type of system to satisfy legal requirements.
- Single Hard Disk: The term "single hard disk" refers to a standard server setup (i.e., a hard disk directly attached to a server). The capacity of an average hard disk is sufficient to handle the data associated with multiple volumes. This type of system provides lower performance than a RAID, SAN, or NAS system, but it is relatively economical.
- Jukebox: A typical jukebox system stores a set of CDs, DVDs, and/or tape cartridges. Read or write access is typically limited to a single CD, DVD, or tape cartridge at a time, and as a result, there is a short delay whenever it needs to read or write to a different CD, DVD, or tape cartridge. Its capacity depends on the type of jukebox and the number of CDs, DVDs, and/or tape cartridges that have been installed on it.
- DVD (Digital Versatile Disc): Although some types of DVDs allow data to be overwritten, DVDs should only be used to back up volume data, archive volume data, or to distribute volume data to another organization. They cannot be used for volumes that need to be modified. If you decide to archive a volume to DVD, make sure that the Read-only volume check box is selected from the Volume Properties dialog box. Finally, DVDs are not recommended for volumes whose contents are constantly being accessed. The standard capacity for DVDs is 4.7 GB for single-sided, single-layered DVDs and 8.5 GB for single-sided, dual-layered DVDs. A DVD system is relatively inexpensive, however, you will need to store many DVDs and make them accessible to users. If you plan on storing data on a DVD+R and DVD-R, it may be possible to satisfy legal mandates that require that data cannot be altered after it has been written to disk. However, it is highly recommended that you consult a lawyer before implementing this type of system to satisfy legal requirements.
- CD (Compact Disc): Although some types of CDs allow data to be overwritten, CDs should only be used to back up volume data, archive volume data, or distribute volume data to another organization. They cannot be used for volumes that need to be modified. If you decide to archive a volume to CD, make sure that the Read-only volume check box is selected from the Volume Properties dialog box. Finally, CDs are not recommended for volumes whose contents are constantly being accessed. The standard capacity for CDs is 650-700 MB. A CD system is relatively inexpensive, however, you will need to store a large quantity of CDs and make them accessible to users. If you plan on storing data on a CD-R, it may be possible to satisfy legal mandates that require that data cannot be altered after it has been written to disk. However, it is highly recommended that you consult a lawyer before implementing this type of system to satisfy legal requirements.
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