A common misconception is that the virtual drive created from a cloud drive is a new filesystem that reflects the contents of the ECS bucket. In other words, if a drive I: is created, and the properties of the drive I: are viewed, they will show the amount of space used in ECS by the bucket, and the amount of free space on ECS. It does not, and there is no relationship between the size of a windows volume and the amount of storage at ECS.
The following points clarity this relationship:
- GeoDrive does not create a file system or volume. It piggybacks on an existing NTFS or ReFS volume and uses a portion of it as a cache area for data pulled down from ECS.
- Data local on the windows system that has not been referenced for a period is stubbed. This will increase the amount of free storage available on the local disk while keeping the amount of data on ECS constant.
- Files are pulled down to the local disk as they are referenced. All files will not be local or stubbed unless all folders have been opened or referenced, or if you run Recall All Directories from the root folder in Explorer.
- Having a drive letter associated with the data is optional. It is there as a convenience for users to be able to find the data easier. It is not really a new drive. It is a junction point into where the cache directory resides. If the properties on the I: drive are viewed, they will be the same as the C: drive, or whatever drive that is used for the cache.
- When creating a cloud drive, the cache directory will default to under the data directory. For applications with a lot of data, it is highly recommended that you do not accept that default and put it on its own volume. Click Advanced when creating the cloud drive. The cache path can be modified only when initially creating the cloud drive.
- Be sure to read the appendix in the user guide on sizing the cache directory. It is possible for the cache volume to run out of disk space while there is plenty of space on ECS.