SmarterTrack uses two types of storage: database storage and file storage. The database holds the contents of tickets, KB articles, live chats, and more. File storage contains items such as ticket attachments, images used in KB articles and canned replies, files uploaded to tickets, and so on. SmarterTrack already does a great job of keeping file storage lean — it eliminates duplicate files (so the same image used in multiple KB articles is only stored once) and automatically purges files when their associated tickets, chats, or KB articles are deleted. Even so, storage can still add up over time. And, just as disk space increases, SmarterTrack's performance can decrease. Therefore, managing disk space is a maintenance task that administrators don't want to miss.
That's where SmarterTrack's built-in automation features come in handy. As an administrator, you can configure SmarterTrack to automatically close, lock, and then delete tickets based on a time frame that works for your team.
For example, you might automatically close tickets after 14 days of no customer response, lock them a few days after that so users can no longer reply, and then permanently delete them after a year. All three settings can be customized, can be enabled or disabled independently, and are configured on a per-department basis — giving you granular control over how each team manages its tickets. Just remember: the longer you store tickets, the more disk space you’re using.
To access these settings, log in as a system administrator and navigate to Settings > Departments, open a Department, then select the Tickets tab. Here's what you'll see:
Utilizing these settings, and having some strict (though still viable for your business) rules around how tickets are disposed of, can go a long way towards helping you conserve disk space which, in turn, helps keep SmarterTrack performing well.