Storage Treemaps are another new feature
in SPACEWatch Storage Suite 6. They use a clever mathematical algorithm
to display directory trees from across the network - showing lots of data,
but visually revealing interesting facts in a simple way.
Invented by the Dutch mathematician
J.J. van Wijk and colleagues, and first published in 2000, the algorithm
is ideal for analysing structured hierarchical data.
Here's what a Storage Treemap looks
like in SPACEWatch 6:
The size of each rectangle is in proportion
to the storage space that each tree consumes. The colour shows how
recently used the files are in that tree. Thus if you find large,
pink, rectangles - you should probably take a closer look.
The first set of enthusiastic SPACEWatch
users just got their hands on the latest SPACEWatch Storage Suite 6 beta
code. There are a wealth of new and improved features in this major
update - and I'll take a little time in the blog to introduce you to some
of them. This time I'll introduce the Scenarios tool - a great way
to look at future costs (and savings). By the way, before I go any
further, if you're interested in trying out the beta then let me know.
Just drop me an email to scott@sharpeware.com letting me know a little
about your storage and your issues that SPACEWatch 6 might assist in addressing.
The SPACEWatch 6 Scenarios tool
SPACEWatch 6 Sceanrios tool shows within
seconds a baseline prediction of storage growth, then lets you instantly
compare this with scenarios that you might implement. For example, see
the predicted impact of removing unused files and use this to justify the
activity required. Perfect as a planning tool to aid in business case preparation
or investment analysis. And all this is based on a file level audit
of your actual data.
On the chart above you can see the baseline
in green, and in this example I chose to compare this with what would happen
if I removed all file that had not been used for more than three months.
I can take this further and model a change in only part of my network
- a single server or file system for example - as well as using other scenarios
like removing unwanted file types (mp3 springs to mind!).
However the scenario tool doesn't just
give you a chart of storage consumption - it will also calculate the cost/savings
involved as well. All presented in a useful table that you can re-use
directly in another application like Microsoft Excel.
In this table you can see how much money
I would over the next 12 months by removing those unused files. What
better way is there to support your investment decisions?
Next time I'll introduce you to what
SPACEWatch 6 can do at the other end of the spectrum - when analyzing file-level
detail with the new file duplicates tool.
In the meantime here are some links
if you want to read more about SPACEWatch Storage Suite 6
Finally I'm able to announce that the
first SPACEWatch 6 Beta release will be available shortly. You can
read a short summary of this new major release and see some early screen
shots at:
Do you want to test the beta? If
you are interested in joining the SPACEWatch 6 beta program please email
support@sharpeware.com with the subject "SPACEWatch 6 Beta".
Once the program is launched you will receive an email explaining
how to obtain the code and provide us with your feedback.
Whilst there are thousands of detail
changes and updates in SPACEWatch 6, here's a summary of the more major
ones:
Two new clients: administration and
automation functions have now been combined and enhanced in a new SPACEWatch
Administrator application. Use it to centrally manage your SPACEWatch
installation. End-user functions are now consolidated into a new
SPACEWatch Client. Both will work with existing v5 space databases
and data files alongside v5 clients.
New user interface: built around Microsoft's
latest "Fluent User Interface" design, as seen in the Office
2007 suite. No more menus to make finding key functions difficult.
Everything is consolidated into a central "ribbon bar"
making use easier and quicker. All tools have also been re-designed
to take advantage of this new interface, making results much easier to
view and work with - including features such as the ability to filter results
instantly based on given text, or group results by multiple columns.
New data export options: including the
'save split' - the ability to save any grouped results split automatically
into multiple Microsoft Excel workbooks or sheets.
New File Finder feature called 'DataView':
lets you visualize large sets of results using a multi-dimensional
view to quickly discover new characteristics of your results.
New file/directory features: including
much-requested features such as 'send to compressed folder' and 'recreate
source directory structure'.
New data collection options: scan the
contents of compressed folders and zip files.
New 'Scenarios' tool: see the future
impact of planned changes and see how much benefit they will bring to your
storage.
Finding Duplicates: this tool has been
re-coded for improved performance and now with a user-based duplicates
search feature.
Directory Finder: now you can copy/move/send-to-compressed
directory trees direct from the Directory Finder.
Dashboard: completely re-written, and
now with user-settable applet configurations to suite your infrastructure.
File Types: With one click you can now
'cross-correlate' particular file types with other attributes such as file
owners or duplicates. File type Groups are used in many more places
throughout SPACEWatch.
Web interface: access SPACEWatch reports
wherever you are via a browser.
If you guessed a Microsoft
Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone
then well done. If you guessed the model of phone then you know far too
much about the latest hot tech toys (its an HTC
TyTN II by the way). If
you got one for Christmas then welcome to my geek club!
They’re great as a business tool –
and you will soon be able to use this (or any other mobile device that
has a pocket browser built in) for storage management via your SPACEWatch
Storage Suite.
For example, do you notice the red bar
in the first screenshot above? That’s a volume that is running low
on available space. You can then immediately use the tree summary
shown in the second screenshot to see where all the storage is being used.
So how do I get a storage summary from
my SPACEWatch space database displayed on my smartphone? The answer
is by using the web interface that will be available in a forthcoming update.
You can use it from a normal browser – or a pocket browser on your
smartphone as in the example above. SPACEWatch will automatically
adjust its display to suite your browser.
As you can see, we have a working solution
in development. It won’t be long before customers with maintenance
contracts can get a free update that includes these new features.
With the new web interface you can take
a look at a range of SPACEWatch space data – and manage your storage wherever
you are. The above example shows available and used disk storage
on your servers and volumes in a handy bar chart. But you can delve
much deeper.
As with the desktop SPACEWatch client,
you can drill down to file level detail. For example, the first screenshot
above shows another smartphone storage summary – this time top file types.
On this page I can click on any file type link and I’ll see all
those files listed… then I can pick one and another click later I can
see all the file detail – as shown in the second screenshot above.
You will even be able to carry out searches
of your space data remotely and monitor the progress of your space database
scan and merge jobs.
So if you’ve ever wanted to take SPACEWatch
with you when you’re away from your desk – now you can. With the
SPACEWatch web interface.
We don’t always describe new updates
to SPACEWatch in the blog, but v5.7.70 includes some new features that
are definitely worth taking the time to explain in more detail.
Here are a couple of the major new areas
of enhancement in this update:
Enhancements to space database maintenance
We've included a number of enhancements
to help with automating the maintenance of your SQL space databases. These
include:
If this is your first data collection
to a new SQL database, the structure will now be automatically created
for you
If you collect data remotely, e.g. to
a local SPACEWatch data file, you can now automate the merging of these
data files into your SQL space database
We've slightly updated the SQL databases
structure in a way that lets us optimize data maintenance - in some cases
this will result in an up to 50% performance improvement
If you really want to, you can now zap
the SQL space database before starting a new collection - this will erase
all space data (and can't be undone - so please use with care!)
You can now verify your space database
as a routine task - although we recommend only doing this when required
(e.g. when data collection was interrupted due to a system or network failure).
This option attempts to validate the data that is already in the
database.
The new User Finder
The most significant new feature in
this update is the new User Finder. You’ll find this on the new Find –
Users menu option. We previewed this in an earlier blog (see 'Who's
used all the space?'). This
deceptively simple tool is actually very powerful.
With this new tool can you instantly
see the results of analyses like
top 50 users who have created audio
files (where 'audio files' are any file types that fit this description)
users with files unused for more than
6 months
or even
top users with unused audio files.
What's more you can see the results
rolled up by organization structure as well, using your directory details
taken from either Microsoft Active Directory, Novell eDirectory or IBM
Domino Directory depending on where the files are being stored.
Here’s an example:
Who’s taking up most storage with
their audio files?
By the way, what you class as ‘audio
files’ can be defined by you: we give you a range of file types to get
you started, but you can alter these any way you want – or even create
your own set of file types. We call these sets of file types ‘highlight
groups’ and you can manage them from the File Types summary window.
Go to Data – Summary and click on the
Types tab. Use the Settings button to manage your Highlight Groups.
And here are the same results organized
as a tree:
User Finder results organized along
directory lines
The User Finder shows you how many files
– and how much storage they’re taking up – for each user. Along
side this data it also shows you the total files/storage all files owned
by that user.
As with any other area of SPACEWatch
you can see detail by double clicking a result – in this case you will
see all the files listed. You can also save the results to a variety
of formats and use them in other applications, or print a formatted report.
Finally, you can also visualize your
results in a chart like this:
