Archive Sizing

For best performance, PI3 archives size should be between 10-100 Kb per point. Use the information on this page to help you choose a reasonable initial archive size then, after a few archive shifts, decide whether you need to adjust your archive size up or down. You can reprocess any existing archives into smaller or larger sizes using the Off-line Archive Utility, without affecting data. See "Combining and Dividing Archives" in the PI Server System Management Guide for more information.

• Static vs. Dynamic Archives
  By default, new archives are static (fixed) in size. The main advantage to static archives is you know exactly how much disk space they require, so you don't need to worry about running out of space. Dynamic archives are ideal for backfilling data, but they can't be shifted into once they contain data. See Fixed Archives and Dynamic Archives in the PI Server Reference Guide (Chapter 2) for information.
• Shift Frequency
  In PI 3.4, archive shifting is less disruptive than it used to be, so frequent shifting is less of a performance issue than in is in PI 3.3. In PI 3.3, we recommend you size your archives such that the archive shifts occur every 3-5 weeks.
• Windows OS File Cache Size
  Archive throughput is best when the archive size is smaller than the system's file cache size.  For 32-bit systems (Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server) the File System Cache (FSC) is 960 MB. (See Microsoft's tech note on File Cache Performance for more information.)
  In the vast majority of cases, having larger archive files will not impact the system's performance, unless queries are being made such that the entire archive gets loaded into memory; however you can monitor performance by looking at the Windows Performance Counter "Physical Disk/Avg. Disk Queue Length." If this counter consistently shows a value at 1 or above, you are likely overwhelming the disk(s) and/or controller(s).
• Backup Media
  Do not exceed the limits of your physical and backup media.
• Minimum Archive Size
  The minimum archive size is 2 KB per point. The minimum archive size, in MB, is twice the number of points divided by 1024.
• Maximum Archive Size
  The maximum archive size is 2 Terabytes (2047 GB).Keep in mind that larger archives are less practical for backup, maintenance, or reprocessing.

Other Resources:
"Creating Archives" in the PI Server System Management Guide.

"PI System Manager Guide I: Essential Skills" - Training materials available from the Class Downloads from the training.osisoft.com site. Open the PowerPoint presentation (SysManI.zip ) and locate the section on "Archive Management."

PI Archive Manager Plug-in for SMT documentation - Creating, registering, unregistering, and managing archives with the PI-System Manager Tools (installed to your \pipc\smt3\documentation directory or where you have SMT installed, and available from the Download Center).

"Editing and Creating an Archive" with piartool in the PI Server System Management Guide.