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Options for system directories

When deploying an ArcGIS Server site or a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, you must choose an optimal location to store your system directories. System directories include:

  • Portal for ArcGIS content directory

  • ArcGIS Server configuration store

  • ArcGIS Server server directories

The configuration choice you make depends on your deployment environment.

For both on-premises and cloud deployments, you can use either local folders or network shares for the system directories. Local folders are recommended when the associated ArcGIS Enterprise component is configured on a single machine. Use network shares when the associated component is configured on multiple machines, such as a highly available portal or multiple-machine ArcGIS Server site.

Modifying a system directory

For the portal content directory, you may chose to use a cloud storage service when initially deploying ArcGIS Enterprise or you can change the portal content directory to update the location to use a cloud service. For a cloud deployment of ArcGIS Server, you can use a cloud storage service for the server directories and configuration store when you initially deploy the ArcGIS Server site, but the location cannot be changed after the initial site configuration.

Cloud environments

When deploying in a cloud environment, it is recommended to use a cloud service to store system directories. This approach is especially beneficial when you plan to scale the servers in your site beyond a single-machine or when creating a highly available site as it minimizes the potential for relying on the file system as a single point of failure.

Supported cloud services for storing the portal content directory and server configuration store include the following:

  • Amazon S3

  • Azure Blob Storage

  • Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS)

Supported cloud services for storing the server directories include the following:

  • Amazon S3

  • Azure Blob Storage

As an alternative to cloud storage, several solid-state drive (SSD) options are available in AWS and Azure. Over time, and as needed, you can increase provisioned resources, to scale based on storage needs to support the organization. When deploying to AWS or Azure, choose a volume or disk type that is native to that environment.

On-premises environments

When deploying in on-premises environments, choose a storage device that enables files to be read immediately from any node in your site once an operation and corresponding write has completed.

This disqualifies many types of distributed file systems, such as GFS and GlusterFS.

NFS shares must be configured to ensure consistent reads and avoid using stale data caches.

This disqualifies many types of distributed file systems, such as GFS and DFS.

When choosing a file storage device (NAS/SAN) for this purpose, immediate consistency and performance are essential characteristics to consider. The chosen device must perform well while incurring volumes of small, random input/output (I/O).

Performance considerations

Consider that read and write performance can greatly fluctuate depending on the characteristics of the I/O. This is an important distinction, as interactions with the configuration store, cached bundle tiles, and so on follow this pattern.

Often this means that a device that has been optimized for large, sequential reads and writes (as often occurs with imagery and video) is unsuitable for use with ArcGIS Enterprise. If your implemented file storage mechanism does not handle small, random I/O well, you may experience significantly increased response times, or even failures, especially for administrative operations applied in your site.

Additional resources: