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A little re-architecting of SmarterTrack config would help larger installations and remote file storage
Idea shared by Speednet - 10/26/2020 at 6:01 AM
Proposed
I was looking into the possibility of moving the SmarterTrack file storage to network storage using a UNC path and came across this article: https://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2615/store-smartertrack-data-files-on-an-alternate-drive-or-san.aspx

It is definitely great that it can be done, but because of the way the configuration is stored, it is going to make things more difficult in the future than they need to be (i.e., upgrades, moving between servers, etc.)

Just a couple of changes in the way SmarterTrack stores configuration would minimize the effects of adding remote storage:

  1. There is really no need for the Mapping File (SiteDetails.xml) to exist.  The Bindings can easily be queried directly from IIS, and the name(s) of the SmarterTrack IIS website(s) can be stored in the database instead of in a file.
  2. Likewise, the locations of the file storage should be stored in the database, rather than in the SiteDetails.xml file.  Because SmarterTrack requires the use of a database, there is no issue with flexibility or compatibility by moving the settings to the database -- the only effects are positive ones, in that admins are no longer required to manually enter settings in a file, and then track and maintain that settings file.
  3. With the elimination of the SiteDetails.xml file, admins are no longer required to make the manual entry into the web.config file to set the location of SiteDetails.xml.
With these changes, all admin maintenance of app/system files are eliminated, and the server becomes much more portable and less subject to difficult debugging.  Hosting file storage in remote folders becomes an exercise of file permissions only, which is much more manageable.

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