Retain was designed to be very flexible in allowing you to choose where the data is stored. Choosing the right hardware and software storage combination is crucial. Storage itself is a function of the operating system and hardware you choose.
As storage needs approach enterprise levels, the need to specify your data storage locations becomes more critical. Some hardware and operating systems have a hard limit of 2 Terabytes, for instance. In situations like these, a SAN might be a good choice for consideration. Either way, it’s imperative that you take the time to investigate your storage needs BEFORE you begin. Retain monitors the storage space available, and issues email warnings at 20 GB, and locks down Retain to a maintenance mode when the storage space drops to 10 GB. This is to avoid possible corruption to the storage and index which may occur when space runs out.
When choosing your storage system, bear in mind the following considerations:
Storage size limits. Do you expect storage needs to ever exceed this?
Ability to add additional storage capacity
OS Version and kernel to support the storage system of your choice
File system and partitioning
Is a SAN right for you?
Speed and reliability
Backup/restore is your responsibility