The ability for a central team to understand and control how the file service is being used is critical if efficient and appropriate use of that service is to be assured.
The Centralised File Service Management solution area provides full visibility on patterns of file service use, it allows for allocation (quota) and content control (File Block) policies to be established and automated, and it allows for specific file-level analyses to be carried out.
Needs Fulfilled
| Decision support for the continuous development of the file service; budget defense, service design, infrastructure selection, investment prioritization, etc. |
| Identification of opportunities to reduce risk and cost through the removal of redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT) data. |
| The ability to allocate storage capacity to groups, projects and individual users. |
| The ability to enforce policies on which file types can be stored in specific locations. |
Unique Features
The following features are only available in the Centralized File Service Management solution area:
| Data Quotas with notifications Setting hard or soft limits on shares, sub-folders, or user accounts that control the volume of data that can be added to a path, or stored by user. Notifications for users/administrators can be triggered when thresholds in usage are reached. |
| File Block capabilities The ability to prevent specific file types from being saved in target paths. Prohibit the storage of database backups, email archives, media files, etc. |
Feature Sample
| Analyze file service use across the full unstructured data environment – SMB/CIFS file shares, NFS exports, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Azure, etc. |
| Utilize the benefits of the Data Stewardship Framework solution area to understand how different parts of the organization are using the file service. |
| Work with high-level summaries or deeper analysis at the department, user or data repository (share, SharePoint site, OneDrive, etc.) level. |
| Collect lists of files that match specific meta-data parameters – PST files that have been accessed in the last thirty days, all files in a specific share that are owned by inactive user accounts, etc. |
| Establish levels of file duplication via a meta-data analysis or work with grouped lists of true duplicates that are matched via a comparison of their content (hash values). |
| Configure access rules that allow up to five (5) users to access and work with analyses. Precisely control the range and type of information they should have access to. |
| Design and roll-out policies to allocate space for user home and shared drives (hard quotas). |
| Use soft allocation with notifications to guide file service use (soft quotas). |
| Use hard allocation to prevent excessive use, or to trigger a change in the service being purchased/delivered. |
| Use integrated actions to directly manage files within reports, require the provision of a reason for the intended action and/or manager sign-off before execution. |
| Integrate information about file service usage into workflows such as user off-boarding, 6s events, e-discovery and ILG initiatives, etc. |
| Integrate storage allocation policies into standard operating procedures such as user on-boarding. |
| Integrate with ITSM solutions to establish workflows for managing changes in allocation levels. Align these with internal SLAs. |
