Disk Management

SmarterTrack uses two types of storage: database storage and file storage. The database holds the structured content of your help desk — ticket messages, live chat transcripts, knowledge base article text, task details, and more. File storage holds the assets associated with that content: attachments uploaded to tickets and live chats, images embedded in KB articles, files attached to canned replies, and similar items.

SmarterTrack manages file storage efficiently on its own. It deduplicates files automatically, meaning the same image used across ten KB articles is stored on disk only once. It also purges file assets when their parent records are deleted — remove a ticket (manually or via auto-purge), and its attachments are cleaned up along with it. Even so, on a busy help desk storage grows steadily over time, and it helps to know where that space is going.

The Disk Management page gives administrators a clear view of how much disk space SmarterTrack is consuming and what is driving that consumption. It also surfaces counts and dispositions for tickets and live chats, and shows the automated retention settings configured for each department. To access it, log in with a system administrator account, click the Settings icon, and then click Disk Management under the Tools section in the navigation pane.

Note: Storage statistics are calculated on demand when this page is loaded. On a large installation the numbers may take a moment to populate.

Overview

The Overview tab provides a high-level summary of storage usage across all categories. Rather than navigating tab by tab, administrators can use this tab to quickly spot which category is consuming the most space and then drill into the relevant tab for details.

The following storage metrics are displayed:

Database Size - The overall size of the SmarterTrack database.
File Storage - The total disk space used by all file attachments, inline images, and other binary assets stored outside the database.
Ticket Attachments Size - The total storage consumed by files uploaded directly to tickets — both internal attachments added by agents and external attachments submitted by end users through the portal. Because tickets often have long retention periods and can accumulate many files, this is frequently the largest contributor to file storage on an active help desk.
Live Chat Attachments Size - The total space used by files shared during live chat sessions. These files are retained for the duration of the chat transcript's retention period and are removed automatically when the chat session is deleted — either manually or by the Chat Manager thread's automatic cleanup.
Knowledge Base Attachments Size - The space used by files embedded in or attached to knowledge base articles, including images inserted into article bodies. Because SmarterTrack deduplicates these files, the same screenshot or diagram used in multiple articles is counted only once.
Call Log Attachment Size - The space used by files added as internal attachments to call logs.

Customers using the Hosted SmarterTrack service will also see the following fields, which help them understand their overall usage relative to their plan's storage allocation:

Space Allowed - The total storage (database and file storage combined) included in the plan. This is calculated as the total number of agents multiplied by 20 GB.
Space Used - The total storage currently in use (database and file storage combined).
Free Space - The difference between Space Allowed and Space Used.

Tickets

The Tickets tab provides a detailed count of tickets in SmarterTrack, broken down by status and age. The information includes:

Total tickets, total open tickets, and total closed tickets
Closed tickets broken down by age (e.g., closed more than 90 days ago, closed more than 4 years ago)
Total deleted tickets (items in the deleted state that have not yet been permanently purged)
Tickets with resolutions

This breakdown is particularly useful for identifying retention situations that may warrant attention. For example, a large count of tickets closed more than several years ago is a signal to review the auto-delete settings for the relevant departments and tighten the retention period. A high count of deleted tickets means there is pending database and storage space to reclaim — administrators can use the Run Purge Deleted action on the Departments tab to immediately reclaim that space rather than waiting for the nightly automated purge.

Note: Tickets with Resolutions are exempt from auto-delete settings and will not be automatically removed regardless of age.

Live Chats

The Live Chats tab mirrors the Tickets tab but for live chat sessions. It shows total chat counts, a breakdown of closed chats by age, and the count of deleted chats awaiting purge. As with tickets, a large volume of chats that are closed but well past their expected retention age may indicate that the department's auto-delete setting for live chats needs to be reviewed or tightened. Those settings, and how they are configured across departments, are visible on the Departments tab.

File Storage

The File Storage tab shows file counts and total size across each attachment category in SmarterTrack. If a particular category has an unexpectedly high file count or storage footprint, it is worth reviewing the policies that govern that area. For example:

For ticket or live chat attachments, consider whether the allowed file types and maximum attachment size are set appropriately for the business.
For knowledge base attachments, consider asking content creators to optimize images before uploading — limiting image dimensions, requiring compressed formats, or disallowing high-overhead formats like uncompressed BMP or EPS can make a meaningful difference over time.
For canned reply attachments, review whether any canned replies include large files that are no longer actively in use.

Note: "Raw Content" refers to the raw .EML file SmarterTrack stores for each inbound ticket email. This is the file surfaced when an agent selects Raw Content from a ticket's Actions menu. Raw content files are automatically cleaned up by the Cleaner thread on a regular schedule.

Departments

The Departments tab is different from the others: rather than showing storage statistics, it displays the automated retention and cleanup settings that are configured on a per-department basis, giving administrators a single view of how each team's tickets and chats are managed over time.

SmarterTrack can automatically close, lock, and delete tickets, and automatically delete live chats and call logs, based on configurable time thresholds. These settings are independent of one another and can be enabled or disabled per department. For example, a department might automatically close tickets after 7 days of no customer response (the default is 168 hours), lock them around two weeks later so the customer can no longer reply, and permanently delete them after a year. The defaults for a new department are:

Auto-close tickets: 168 hours (7 days) — disabled by default
Auto-lock tickets: 332 hours (~14 days after close) — disabled by default
Auto-delete tickets: 365 days — enabled by default
Auto-delete call logs: 90 days — enabled by default
Auto-delete live chats: 365 days — enabled by default

The Departments tab surfaces these settings for every active department so administrators can see at a glance whether departments are configured consistently or whether any outliers exist. Three actions are available from this tab:

Edit - Selecting a department and clicking Edit (or double-clicking the row) opens a modal where administrators can adjust the automated retention thresholds for that department. Changes made here are reflected in the department's Ticket and Live Chat settings as well.
Run Purge Deleted - Immediately and permanently removes all items that are currently in the deleted state, across tickets, live chats, call logs, tasks, canned replies, news items, KB articles, groups, and departments. Under normal operation, deleted items are automatically purged nightly — but only after they have been in the deleted state for at least 90 days. Run Purge Deleted bypasses that waiting period and purges everything in the deleted state right away. Use this when you want to immediately reclaim database and storage space rather than waiting for the scheduled purge.
Run Cleanup - Runs the Cleaner process, which sweeps the file system for assets that should no longer be present: orphaned ticket attachments, temporary files, raw email content files, failed email files, call recordings past their retention period, log files past their retention period, user handshake files, and pending zip files. This is the same process the Cleaner thread runs automatically in the background every 30 seconds; triggering it manually here forces an immediate pass.