Archiving Process v. Database Removal

[JAnderson]

Hi there,
I share Project Administrator responsibilities at my organization with a
firm we contract our IT work with. I handle mostly front-end work and they
(he) handles the back-end database work--but as you can imagine, other IT
responsibilities take priority.

We are using Project Server 2003 and have been since the beginning of 2006.
We have 620 project plans currently in the server of which about 200 are
active. I see the helpful archiving procedure posted
http://www.projectserverexperts.com/Shared Documents/ArchiveCompletedProjects.htm
and I would like to use this. However, I know it will not alleviate the
recommendation that I'm getting from our contracted IT firm who is concerned
that there are too many files on the system and it slows things down.

I have not heard from them exactly what process they would like us to use,
but I know that if I give the go ahead to follow it then my reports in PWA
will not access 2006 files because they will move the files from the active
database.

Just wondering--those of you out there, do you remove older plans from the
active database (if I'm saying that correctly!). I'm concerned that my IT
firm wants to take too drastic a step in order to archive.

Thanks much!
Jen

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Jen --

Archiving completed projects using the process detailed in our FAQ will
leave the projects in the Project Server database. You can set up
permissions so that only certain people can see the completed projects, such
as the Project Server administrator or program managers, but PM's and TM's
cannot see the projects. By leaving the projects in the system, you can
access them for their historical data as needed. In theory, this could slow
down the performance of Project Server 2003, but there are many other
factors that contribute to the overall performance of your Project Server
system.

If your IT contractor deletes the completed projects from the Project Server
database, then all of the projects will be gone, as will their historical
data. Is this what you really want? Your answer will determine the best
course to follow. An alternative to either solution is to purchase and use
the Physical Archive Tool, available from Projects Made Easy at:

http://projectmadeeasy.com/archive.htm

Please note that I have not personally used this tool, but it is definitely
a solution to a problem that has plagued many Project Server 2003 users.
Hope this helps.

 

[JAnderson]

Thanks Dale about the archiving tool tip. That could be a great middle ground
for us.

I do not want want to lose the historical data and am happy with the
archiving procedure your and your company wrote. (thanks for that!) but I do
realize that a slow server is not good for anyone.

I will ask the IT contractor about the other factors that contribute to a
slow server and research and propose this archiving tip.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

JAnderson --

You are more than welcome for the help, and for the FAQ!

eDale