64.1 Planning a Library

If you are creating a new library for each post office in your GroupWise system, print a copy of Section 64.5, Library Worksheet for each post office.

If users in several post offices will store documents in the same library, you must decide which post office should own the library. A library can never be reassigned to a different post office, so you should choose the owning post office carefully. You should consider which users will use the library most frequently and where you might want to create additional libraries in the future.

When you create the Library object, you must give the library a name. This is the name that is displayed in the GroupWise Admin console.

After you have specified the library’s name and created the Library object, the name cannot be changed. Therefore, if you have or will have other libraries, you should pick a name that uniquely identifies the library. For example, use the name to identify the post office it is assigned to.

Do not use any invalid characters in the library’s name. For more information, see Invalid Characters in GroupWise Object Names.

By default, the library name that users see in the GroupWise client is the same as the Library object name. However, you can change the display name if you want it to be different from the Library object name.

You can store documents at the post office in the post_office\gwdms\library\docs subfolder of the post office. You can later add document storage areas outside the post office if DMS usage grows. However, the documents stored at the post office can never be moved.

A document storage area has the same internal folder structure that is used to store documents at the post office, but it can be located anywhere in your system. Document storage areas can be moved easily, so it is easy to expand your document storage capacity when you store documents in document storage areas rather than at the post office.

You might want to set up a document storage area on the same server where the POA runs so as not to increase network traffic. The POA can index and serve documents to users most efficiently if the document storage area is located locally.

To define a document storage area, you must know its direct access path. For example, a UNC path specifies the absolute location of the document storage folder.

\\windows_server\share_name\storage_folder

For example:

\\win7\c$\docs

You must set the start number for each library to either 0 (zero) or 1. The default is 1. This number identifies the original document.

Version numbers are automatically increased from the number you select. If you select 0, the first version of a document will be 000. If you select 1, the first version will be 001.

Documents created with GroupWise DMS can be archived, depending on their Document Type properties. A document’s type determines its disposition, such as archiving or deleting.

When you archive documents, their BLOB files are moved into archive folders. Each library in a document storage area has its own set of archive folders that are automatically created as needed. They are named arxxxxxx (where xxxxxx is an incremental integer with leading zeros). A document storage area has the same archive folder structure as the gwdms subfolder in the post office.

When a document is archived, GroupWise determines if the document’s BLOB file can fit in the current archive folder. If it cannot fit, another archive folder is created and the BLOB is archived there.

An archive set consists of all documents in one archive folder. The Maximum Archive Size property on the Library object establishes in bytes each archive folder’s size limit. You should set this to mirror the capacity of your archival medium. It should not be more than your archival medium’s capacity.

It is usually better to keep archive sets small in comparison to the size of the backup medium. This lets you back up archive folders often enough to keep your hard disk space from being used up too quickly between backups. For example, if your backup medium has 1 GB capacity, you could limit your archive sets to a maximum archive size of 200 MB.

If your archival system only lets you back up in one pass (in other words, you cannot perform consecutive backups to the medium), the Maximum Archive Size should match the archival medium’s capacity.

Some archival mediums require extra space for recording file storage data, such as an index of the files stored to tape. Ten percent is usually sufficient. For example, a tape system with 100 MB capacity means you should set your Maximum Archive Size to 90 MB.

Consult your archival medium documentation for information on setting up an effective backup strategy. Include in your strategy such concepts as multiple archive sets per backup medium, or allowing extra space for the medium’s file storage data.