Changing the Space Allocated to the Staging Area

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

The staging area stores files prior to being replicated and stores files that it has just received through replication. Although FRS compresses the data and attributes of the replicated files to save space in the Staging Area folder and reduce the time that is needed to replicate the files, this method requires making and storing a copy of every file prior to replication and can require a substantial amount of disk space.

The default size of the staging area is 660 megabytes (MB). The minimum size is 10 MB and the maximum size is 2 terabytes. You can adjust the size limit of the Staging Folder by setting the value in kilobytes (KB) of the Staging Space Limit registry entry in HKEY_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NtFrs\Parameters. For more information about setting the Staging Space Limit in the registry, see KB article 329491 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

Task requirements

The following tools are required to perform the procedures for this task:

  • Net.exe

  • Regedit.exe

  • Event Viewer

To complete this task, perform the following procedures in order:

  1. Stop the File Replication service

  2. Change the space allocated to the Staging Area folder

  3. Start the File Replication service