File storage areas
A file storage area is an area that contains document
content in a directory tree on a local or shared network drive. The disk drive can be a Windows®
NTFS volume or a UNIX file system.
RESTRICTION You cannot create a file storage area on an encrypted NTFS volume.
A many-to-many relationship exists between Content Engine servers and file storage areas: many servers can manage one file storage area, and a single server can manage multiple file storage areas.
Content element model
A document can have zero or more content elements. An element is either a content reference element or a content transfer element. A content transfer element has an associated content file in the file storage area. This file is uniquely identified by the combination of the document object identifier (GUID) and an integer sequence number. Within the context of a particular document, a content file is uniquely identified by the sequence number.
When you check in a document, the document content set becomes immutable. Although no content element for a checked-in document can be added or deleted, the entire document can still be deleted. When you delete a document, Content Engine deletes the content element files for the document.
File storage area structure
The following diagram shows the directory structure of a file storage area and the relationship between multiple file storage areas:

- Base directory (or shared directory)
The base directory is the parent directory for one or more file storage areas.
- Root directory
The root directory is the top-level directory for a specific file storage area.
- Content directories
The content directories are the directories at the lowest level of the directory tree for the file storage area. These directories store the committed content element files. You can configure the number of content directories by making the directory tree structure either large or small. A small structure can be ideal for a development environment. For more information about configuring the file storage area size, see Select the size parameters of the storage area.
File storage area creation
You create a file storage area by running the Create a Storage Area wizard in Enterprise Manager. For information about the creation procedure, see Create a storage area. Before running the wizard, you must create and name the base and root directories and assign proper security privileges to the directories. (The wizard creates and names the content directories.) For information about the privileges to assign, see Storage area security.
File storage area management
The following guidelines concern file storage area management:
- Create file storage area to group documents.
Create separate file storage areas to ensure efficient document management. For example, you can create a file storage area to group documents with the same deletion or backup requirements.
- Install remote file systems with a backup power supply.
Install any remotely connected file system with an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) backup system. Failure to gracefully shut down a server on which a remote file storage area resides can result in data loss or corruption.
- Make the storage area accessible to servers.
Make a file storage area accessible from every Content Engine server in the FileNet P8 domain. If only some servers have access to the area, the information displayed by Enterprise Manager depends on the server to which Enterprise Manager is connected. No information is displayed for non-accessible storage area.
- Optional: Create logical links.
Create distributed file system (DFS) links to shared directories to provide a single, logical representation of a file storage location. A link allows the file location to be referenced without the user knowing the location. (In particular, a DFS link might represent a shared directory on a remote server. During file storage area creation, you can select such a DFS link as a local directory.) A file storage area can also use CIFS (Common Internet File System).
Restriction You cannot use DFS to replicate a file storage area. For more information, see Preparing storage areas for object stores.