eG Monitoring
 

Measures reported by SfStorageTest

Salesforce storage is divided into two categories - File storage and Data storage. File storage is used to store files. It typically includes files in attachments, Files home, Salesforce CRM Content, Chatter files (including user photos), the Documents tab, the custom File field on Knowledge articles, and Site.com assets. Data storage is used to store records, and includes the following:

  • Accounts

  • Article types (format: “[Article Type Name]”)

  • Article type translations (format: “[Article Type Name] Version”)

  • Campaigns

  • Campaign Members

  • Cases

  • Case Teams

  • Contacts

  • Contracts

  • Custom objects

  • Data translations

  • Email messages

  • Forecast items

  • Google docs

  • Leads

  • List Email

  • Notes

  • Opportunities

  • Opportunity Splits

  • Orders

  • Quotes

  • Quote Template Rich Text Data

  • Solutions

  • Tags: Unique tags

  • Tasks

  • All objects tied to Field Service enablement

The amount of storage you get for each storage type depends on the Salesforce edition that your organization uses and how many users you have. For example, say you have the Enterprise edition with 20 users, you get 10GB of data storage with an additional 20MB per user (10.4GB total) and 10GB of file storage with an additional 2GB per user (50GB total).

After the initial allocation, administrators should keep a close watch on how users are consuming the allocated storage. Without constant supervision, administrators may suddenly find themselves faced with a serious storage space crunch, which can cause the loss of business-critical files/records. This in turn can adversely impact user experience with Salesforce and the smooth transaction of business! By constantly overseeing storage usage on the other hand, administrators can proactively detect a potential storage space crisis. Now, if they also knew which types of files/records are cluttering the storage, and which users are creating these space hogs, then they will be able to figure out how to resolve the storage bottleneck, well before users start complaining. This is where the SfStorageTest test helps!

This test auto-discovers the files and records that are occupying storage space and reports the collective space usage of each type of file and/or record. In the process, the test accurately pinpoints the precise file/record type that is storage space-hungry. In the event of a storage space crisis, this will point you to the precise files/objects that could be causing it. In addition, the test also reveals the rate at which the space usage of a file/object type is growing. This way, administrators can identify file/object types that constantly require more storage resources than the rest. These insights will help administrators prudently plan the future storage capacity of the target Salesforce organization, and take informed decisions on how storage should be allocated to the different categories. Moreover, the test does not stop with just revealing the guilty file/object types; it goes a step ahead and leads you to the exact users who may have caused the storage shortfall by consuming resources abnormally.

Outputs of the test :One set of results for every type of file and object using space in Data storage and File storage, respectively. A Summary descriptor is also available, which reports aggregated space usage across all objects in Data storage, and across all files in File storage. A set of results is also reported for each of the top space consumers in Data storage and File storage.

The measures made by this test are as follows:

Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation
record_count Indicates the total number of records in files/objects of this type.

For the Summary descriptor, this measure reports the total number of records across all files in File Storage and across record types in Data Storage.
Number  
storage_used Indicates the amount of storage space currently used by this record / file type.

For the Summary descriptor, this measure reports the amount of storage space used across all files in File Storage and across all records in Data Storage.

For the ‘Top Users....’ descriptors, this measure reports the storage space used by this user in Data or File storage (as the case may be)
MB Compare the value of this measure across file types in File Storage, across record types in Data Storage, and across users under ‘Top Users...’ to accurately identify the file type, object type, and user (as the case may be) who is over-utilizing storage space.
sf_percent_used Indicates the percentage of storage space used by this file type / record type / user (as the case may be). Percent Compare the value of this measure across file types in File storage / record types in Data storage / users of File / Data storage (as the case may be) to know which type of file/record and which user is using File / Data storage excessively. In the event of a storage crunch, this can tell you which file type / record type / user is the root-cause of the crunch.
growth_rate Indicates the percentage rate at which the space occupied by this file type in File storage/ this record type in Data storage / this user is increasing. Percent Compare the value of this measure across file types / record types / users (as the case may be) to know which type of files / records and which users are consistently using up more storage space. Based on the ‘growth potential ’ revealed by this measure, you can predict the future data and file storage requirements, and accordingly plan storage allocations/purchases.
storage_limit Indicates the storage limit for Data storage / File storage (as the case may be). GB  This measure is reported only for the Summary descriptor under Data storage and File storage.
storage_used_percent Indicates what percentage of the storage limit of Data storage / File storage (as the case may be) is currently in use. Percent This measure is reported only for the Summary descriptor under Data storage and File storage.

The value of this measure is calculated using the formula:
(Storage used / Storage limit)*100

A value close to 100% indicates that the storage (File / Data) is about to exhaust its space allocation soon.

If nothing is done to lower the amount of files and/or data storage or to increase storage size, records will no longer be able to update and processes will break down until the problem is fixed.

Compounding the issue is the fact that file and data storage are updated asynchronously, so new records are not immediately reflected in storage. In layman terms, this means you could unintentionally blow past your storage limit when a large amount of data is uploaded and not immediately realize it.

To avoid this, you first need to identify what is causing the storage crunch, and then figure out how to eliminate it.

To start with, use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know which type of file / record is using the File / Data storage (as the case may be), how many records of each type are currently in storage, and the storage space occupied by each type. A quick look at these detailed metrics will point you that file type / record type that is hogging storage. You can then proceed to figure out how to free up storage

There are a number of ways to increase the available storage space in your org.

  • You can manually remove unnecessary files and/or data using tools like Salesforce's Mass Delete Records function (type “delete” in Setup Quick Find box), Salesforce Data Loader, Dataloader.io, or any similar data migration tool.

  • When deleting is not an option, you can leverage apps on the App Exchange to clean up files and/or data. Apps, such as Task Archiver, can move tasks to files or delete tasks that meet user-defined criteria, to help free up data storage for your Salesforce instance.

  • Your last resort options are to purchase extra storage from Salesforce or upgrade your Salesforce edition.