Sentinel's database is using more space than was specified to be used during the Sentinel installation.

  • 7003773
  • 06-Jul-2009
  • 10-Jun-2013

Environment

Novell Sentinel 6.1

Situation

While installing Sentinel 6.0 or 6.1 the installer prompts for the maximum database size that Sentinel should use for its data.  This prompt is shown in the documentation at the following URL:

https://www.novell.com/documentation/sentinel61/s61_install/data/bgmrzzg.html

Specifically the documentation states the following:

Maximum Database Size:  The maximum amount of disk space the database will occupy. The database will automatically grow up to this size as it accumulates data. Regardless of the value specified here, the database’s initial size will be 1000 MB.

The maximum size of the resulting database is growing beyond this size though the value was set properly and it can be seen in the log files and is reflected in the size of the database to a certain extent.

Resolution

The maximum database size only sets the limit on a certain set of tablespaces and the tables contained therein.  The main data tables and summary tables are limited by the size per the setting but the index, Advisor, and SENT_LOBS tablespaces are not limited by this setting.  The documentation states that the Advisor tablespace along can take dozens of gigabytes of hard drive space and will grow over time.  The SENT_LOBS (Sentinel 6.1 only) tablespace is set to grow in an unlimited fashion by default.  The index tablespaces are usually, when combined, smaller than their respective data tablespaces; however, depending on the defined indexes they can meet or exceed the size of those data tablespaces.

Plan for the tablespace usage accordingly and monitor the size of the tablespaces to ensure the disks on which they reside do not fill completely or Sentinel performance will be degraded.  Consult with your Database Administrator (DBA) to work out the best plan to prevent excessive growth of the tablespaces including limiting them after installation per the database's usual methods.
 
Engineering has deemed this to be working as designed and they will not be fixing this.  If it is something that is needed please go to https://www.novell.com/rms and submit an enhancement request