As the way we use technology continues to evolve, coupled with green efforts to reduce paper filing systems, the volume of data a company needs to store is growing exponentially. Today, network hard drives can hold a lot of electronic information. However, data storage will eventually run out if your data storage is not managed. And, your company will hit that hard drive limit much sooner if there is no planning or employees are left to store electronic documents according to each user's preferred filing method, which can waste storage space and have a productivity impact such as making finding files a difficult task.

Improved efficiencies of document storage, retrieval and sharing can be achieved by following some basic guidelines:

- Consider partitioning drive letters for specific use. For example, create a drive letter called "I" for storing all information such as client data and documents. Or, create a "G" drive to store all software applications/software installation copies.

- Plan the folder structure for your network files with rules in advance.

- Compress files that are not frequently used - take advantage of free compression software built into Windows 2007.

- Create date folders for files that can be deleted after so long or that can be archived off the server (eg. Burned to a cd or backup drive).

- Use plain language when naming files as opposed to acronyms and come up with a standardized naming convention within your company.

- Give employees a read-protected, write access folder so they can store personal or individual related work records. Having their own folder will make it easier for personal space monitoring so over the limit folders can be addressed for cleanup of unused files.

-Lock down folder structures so users can write to certain folders, but cannot create folders.

-Educate employees about space limits & data retention to help them maintain a neat & organized folder system, sharing guidelines, tips, etc.

-Leave no file behind! Nest folders within folders to keep like information grouped. For example, you may have a folder called invoices & under it a folder for each year. Organizing like data in a folder <vs> a folder full of files will make finding documents easier & reduce duplication such as someone storing a duplicate invoice because it is not readily seen.

- Make it easy for someone to find the files used a lot so they are not creating a place for it that only they remember. An idea is to force files used a lot to the top of a folder or file list by naming them with a ! or AA at the beginning of the folder or file name. Be consistent with what is used.

- Schedule regular cleanup days. Don't wait for the hard drive to near capacity. Regularly (eg. quarterly) ask users to clean up old files & evaluate files for archiving to an external backup. Keep data storage efficiencies on everyone's conscious.

Most the tips are easily to implement now. But, if you want a solid long term system for managing it, go to the whiteboard and plan your network storage structure! Be sure to work with departments to find a logical flow of what is needed for the dept. & staff. Ask about security needs as well. Ask departments to draw a hierarchy of drawers & the folders within needed to logically store information & compare them. Are there folders that can be centralized & shared among all departments (eg. Client folders)? Maybe this list of drawers could be stored under its own drive letter. A thorough understanding of what is needed & then drawing it out will make it easy to start laying out your own network storage architecture. Once defined, set standards for folder creation and naming conventions to keep the system simple and understood by all who access it. 

TIP: Consider using a utility like TreeSize (www.jam-software.com) on the file server. These are used to tell you where all your disk space is being used.

       By: Chris Challe, Systems Administrator