In the previous article we looked at 3 tips for reducing your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Storage. We have since been asked if the same would apply for on-premise deployments. The simple answer to this is yes. The database size is important for on-premise users as well – think about ease of backup’s. This is especially true if you have multiple environments (for example, for development or testing). Smaller database sizes makes for much easier backup and restores.

Below is a summary of the article that was published previously…

These tips are a summary of the recommendations from this Microsoft TechNet article. If you need detailed steps on how to go about doing anything mentioned in this article, you can refer to the TechNet article.¹ You should also consider whether the recommendations mentioned are suitable for your situation. Deleting data is permanent and cannot be undone. We recommend tip 3 below, to move attachments to SharePoint, before deleting any data.

Tip 1: Purge Logs

CRM logs activity of system jobs, which can add up over time. These are for things like workflows, bulk delete jobs, duplicate detection jobs and bulk import jobs (check System Jobs entity). Setting up bulk delete jobs to purge older logs (more than 3 or 6 months old) can help keep these under control. Another point of mention here are suspended workflows. Workflows will enter a suspended state because of a condition that will never be met or some other reason that will not allow the workflow to complete. These will need to be cancelled before you are able to delete the related logs.

Tip 2: Purge Audit History

Just like system job logs, audit history logs can also build up over time. When enabled, Audit History will keep a copy of all changes made to a record – if a field on a record was changed 10 times, this will be recorded 10 times in the audit history logs. If you have these enabled you might want to consider how long you need to hold on to these for. Setting a bulk delete jobs to purge these can also help to reduce the database size.

Tip 3: Store Email and Note Attachments in SharePoint

Email and Note Attachments are usually the single biggest contributor when it comes to database storage, especially if you have several people tracking email’s – image all those 5 MB emails with brochures all stored in CRM. Email tracking is an important aspect of any CRM system however, for obvious reasons. The TechNet article suggest deleting old Email and Note Attachments. Maintaining this history is important to most organisations however. A solution is to store these in SharePoint instead of CRM. SharePoint is included in most Office 365 subscriptions, and includes 1TB of storage! We have created a solution (available here) that can be configured to run in real time or can be run on a schedule to manage the storage of these in SharePoint.

So there it is. Storing your attachments in SharePoint instead of CRM, and purging old logs can help reduce your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Storage, and keep your CRM system running smoothly. If you have any questions about any of the recommendations mentioned in this article or our SharePoint Attachment Storage Plugin, please get in touch.

If you would like to check how much space attachments are consuming within you CRM system, you can do so by following the steps mentioned on this blog.

References
1. TechNet – Free storage space in Microsoft Dynamics CRM