StoragePoint 6.4 - Reference Guide

Externalize and Recall Job Considerations

Pre-Execution Recommended Steps

There are a number of things to consider before running an Externalize or Recall job:

1.While it is not required, we strongly recommend that Externalize and Recall operations be performed during operational windows where users and other bulk processes are not using the same system resources and/or accessing the same content.

2.We strongly recommend that Indexes are rebuilt and Statistics are updated on each content database that will participate in a Externalize or Recall job execution.

3.We strongly recommend that there is a recent backup of the content database and in the case of a Recall job, the BLOB store as well.

4.We recommend setting the Recovery mode on the SharePoint Content database to Simple before running any jobs. Please go here for more information on Recovery Modes. If Recovery Mode is not switched to Simple, please make sure there is enough available disk space to handle the growth of the Content database’s associated transaction log.

Post-Execution Recommended Steps

There are several steps we would strongly recommend running after an Externalize or Recall job is complete:

Post-Externalize Job (performed on each content database individually):

1.DBCC_SHRINKDATABASE (may have to complete this step multiple times to fully reclaim unused space)

2.Reorganize or Rebuild indexes

3.Update statistics (should be done after the indexes are rebuilt)

4.Backup database

Post-Recall Job (performed on each content database individually):

1.Reorganize or Rebuild indexes

2.Update statistics (should be done after the indexes are rebuilt)

3.Backup database

For more information on general best practices on maintaining SQL for SharePoint please refer to the following information.

Shrinking a Content Database after Content has been Externalized

This section is only relevant for existing content databases. Once StoragePoint is installed and configured, new and updated content will be externalized in real-time.

A database can be shrunk in SQL Management Studio or Transact-SQL to reclaim the empty space left over after the content BLOBs have been removed from the database. This operation may have to be performed as many as 3 times. This is primarily due to the large amount of table fragmentation post-Externalize.