Sometime organizations get so exited that they post al lot, and I mean multiple TB of data, on their SharePoint websites. Instead of managing the volume of your SQL database, like tuning, adding more space and more SharePoint servers, think about archiving. You will see that a lot of data is rarely touched by the people. This is not a specificaly related to SharePoint. I am sure you will notice that Exchange and file shares suffer from the same problem. The problem is often not related to the capacity of storage or servers, but often related to full backup cycles (can you do it in a weekend timeframe?) and restore time (can you recover a full MOSS site in time?).

So the problem is clear. The solution is also simple. Archive. Put data on a cheaper solution. You can put compliancy into practice too, but I just focus on efficiency here.

Starting point is that users should not be bothered with archiving. We have given them a nice collaboration platform and they are just using it as being told. Archived items should therefor remain visible and searchable from within the familiar interfaces.

Tools that can do the job are Symantec Enterprise Vault, Autonomy Zantaz and Commvault Data Archiver. I would suggest to pick one of these, because they can also do archiving for Exchange and NTFS file shares.

The result you should aim at is a 50% storage demand. And do not forget to tell your manager you are now willing to really commit to the SLA agreements.

Happy archiving!

 - Paul