ARM Database Maintenance

The EFT administrators can enable database maintenance from the Server > Logs tab, in addition to the REST API (in Site configuration). The feature is disabled by default.

NOTE: Available for SQL Server databases only. The Auditing and Reporting module must be licensed.

Space requirements for transactions in the ARM Database depend on the estimated EFT activity, number of users, and installed modules. A general estimate is 3MB to 5MB of per 1000 files uploaded. A minimum of 3GB hard drive space is recommended for the initial database size, with additional space required for growth over time.  As your database continues to grow, it is necessary to purge old records periodically.

The helper script in \ProgramData\Globalscape\EFT Server\SQL Server\Helper scripts\PurgeEFT.sql describes in which order to run the scripts to improve database performance.

To enable and configure database maintenance

  1. Administrator is presented with a call to action to opt-in to the purges.

  2. On the Server > Logs tab, in the Audit Database Settings section, specify the number of days of retention.

    Any data older than the number of days of retention must be purged. The default is 60 days, due to the complexities around running large reports in EFT.

    To minimize impact to performance while the server is running, it will only delete 10 days of data on each night. The amount of time it takes to purge depends on the number of days you have in the database. You have to consider how many days of data you have to start with and what you want to end up with. The number you end up with is the number of days the administrator enters into that field. The higher the number of days of data you start with, the longer it will take to purge (especially if you've never purged). AFTER the first purge, and if you leave this enabled, EFT will continue to purge up to 10 days every night and therefore will never keep more days than the number of days you have defined.

    You can find a copy of the schema upgrade SQL script that creates this stored procedure in the EFT directory under SQL. (\ProgramData\Globalscape\EFT Server\SQL Server) which of course, you do not need to run manually if you enable the Purge ARM data older than check box.)

    • Maximum value: There is no maximum value, as some customers have large retention policies.

    • Minimum value: A minimum entry of 45 days is required.

  3. EFT must continue to log to the ARM database during the purge.

  4. EFT must perform the maintenance actions at midnight (server time) interval. This value is NOT configurable.

    1. EFT will purge ALL entries that are older than the number of days of retention specified when midnight (server time) starts.

    2. If the purge fails to purge all entries before the next run, an entry should be logged.