How much disk space do encrypting file data and taking backups require?
If you enable encrypting file data at rest or backups on the M-Files server computer, it is essential that you ensure that there is enough disk space on the server computer at all times to accommodate encrypted file data and backup data.
Disk space needed for encrypting file data at rest
Encrypting file data at rest makes an encrypted copy of your file data while leaving the unenrypted file data temporarily in place, which essentially doubles the space needed for vault file data on the disk. Thus enabling encryption requires at least double the amount of disk space that your vault file data takes. You can determine the location of the vault file data via the database engine settings located under the advanced properties of your document vault.
We recommend that you run the Optimize Database (Thorough) operation after you have enabled encryption and ensured that your vault content is accessible. The Optimize Database (Thorough) operation removes the unencrypted file data of the vault.
Disk space needed for backups
As a general rule of thumb, the server machine should always have at least an equal amount of free disk space as the overall disk space required for 1) the file data and metadata of your document vaults and 2) the server-specific data of the M-Files Server instance. However, it is highly recommended that you keep several backups of the vault and server data to give yourself several chances to recover data in the event of system failure or data loss. Therefore the recommended disk space needed for backups is dependent on the backup policy used in your organization.For more comprehensive backup instructions, please see the M-Files knowledge base article M-Files Backup Policy.