Troubleshooting · Windows
Server storage full
A volume is out of space, causing service failures, failed logins or stalled backups.
Work through these in order
- 01
Identify consumption
Largest directories and recent growth; distinguish a gradual trend from a sudden event.
- 02
Check logs and dumps
Runaway log files, crash dumps and trace files are the most common sudden cause.
- 03
Check shadow copies and snapshots
Snapshot retention at the OS or storage layer frequently consumes the missing capacity.
- 04
Check database and mail growth
Transaction logs that are not being truncated by a successful backup grow without limit.
- 05
Check thin provisioning at the storage layer
The guest may report space while the underlying datastore is exhausted.
- 06
Fix the cause, then capacity
Extending the volume without addressing the growth only defers the same outage.
Background reading
Storage
Block, file and object storage systems that provide capacity, performance and durability characteristics matched to each workload.
Backup
Creating verified, recoverable copies of data and systems, isolated well enough to survive the event that destroys the original.
Monitoring
Collecting and evaluating signals about availability, performance and capacity so problems are detected before users report them.
Windows
The dominant enterprise client and server operating system, with a deep security stack and a long history of compatibility requirements.