About file storage areas
A file storage area contains document
content in a hierarchy of folders on a local or shared network drive accessible by the Content Engine server.
A file storage area can also be a fixed storage area using a fixed content device for content storage. You can configure a file storage area by accessing its property sheet's
Configuration tab.
You can also set a maximum number of files and maximum size using the Statistics
tab.
Content Engine supports a many-to-many relationship for file storage areas. In other words, many Content Engine servers can manage one file storage area, and a single Content Engine server can manage multiple file storage areas.
NOTE File storage areas on encrypted NTFS devices are not supported.
File storage area directory hierarchy
A file storage area consists of a hierarchy of folders on a local or shared network location:

- Share: The shared folder serves as the parent directory to
one or more file storage areas. The parent folder must be created prior to running the
Create a Storage Area wizard, and must have proper security privileges already assigned. The name can be anything permitted by the operating system.
- Root: The root directory of the file storage area is the top-level directory for content storage. The root folder must be created prior to running the
Create a Storage Area wizard, and must have proper security privileges already assigned. The name can be anything permitted by the operating system. A single "parent" shared
folder can contain one or many file storage area "root" folders.
- Content. The directory where all committed content element files
are stored in a large hierarchy of subfolders.
Managing file storage areas
To manage file storage areas, consider the following guidelines:
- Create separate file storage areas to ensure efficient document management. For example, you could create a file storage area to group documents with the same deletion or backup requirements.
- Create DFS links to shared folders to provide a single, logical representation of a file storage location, without letting the user know where the file storage area is located. Take care when implementing DFS links to shared folders on remote servers. During file storage area creation, you can select a DFS link as a local share folder without any indication that the shared folder is actually located on a remote server. See Create a DFS link for more information.
NOTE DFS is supported if you are using it to manage a file storage area; however, the replication feature of DFS is not supported. CIFS is also supported. For more information, see "Prepare Storage Areas for Object Stores" in the IBM FileNet P8 Platform Installation
and Upgrade Guide.
- Install any remote connect file system with a UPS power supply backup system so that the systems never go down or stay up long enough to shut down gracefully. Failure to gracefully shut down a server on which a remote file storage area resides can result in data loss or corruption.
Windows and UNIX permissions on file storage area folders
See the Security Guide for more information on setting folder permissions for file storage and content cache areas.