Suppress duplicate content elements

You can reduce storage space requirements by not duplicating copies of the same data. Content Engine provides the option to suppress storage of duplicate content elements. This option applies to file storage areas and database storage areas only, and it does not apply to fixed storage areas. Duplicate suppression applies to any content. If you configure this option, incoming content is not added to the storage area if identical content exists in the storage area; only unique content is added. Consider configuring this option, for example, when archiving email messages to a Content Engine object store.

Content Engine provides statistics for each server to help you determine the effectiveness of suppressing duplicate content elements. The statistics show the number of duplicate content elements uploaded and then discarded as already present, and the number of requests to delete content elements that did not result in deletion of the actual content. Although suppressing duplicate content elements decreases storage space requirements, it also slightly increases processing time. You can use these storage statistics to determine if the tradeoff is worthwhile. See IBM System Dashboard for Enterprise Content Management User's Guide for more information about these statistics. You can download this guide from the IBM FileNet P8 Platform publication library.

To configure duplicate content element suppression

  1. In Enterprise Manager, right-click the storage area you want to configure and click Properties.
  2. On the Configuration tab, select the Suppress Duplicate Content Elements check box. See Storage area properties (Configuration tab) for more information about the properties on this property tab.