FOLDER SIZE REPORTING

Introduction

The release of FolderSizes 8 marks a significant advancement in storage analysis and reporting technology. This major release not only introduces valuable new features but represents a complete re-engineering of our file system analysis engine, delivering exceptional performance improvements across diverse storage environments.

Since the launch of FolderSizes 8, many users have inquired about the technological foundations that enable its superior performance compared to similar solutions. This article provides a technical overview of our architectural approach and the engineering decisions that have shaped the product’s capabilities.

Technical Architecture: A Smart Threading Framework

FolderSizes introduces a proprietary multi-threaded architecture, designed specifically to maximize parallelism and concurrency throughout all analysis stages. This system features:

• Customizable Thread Pool Management: A configurable thread allocation system that minimizes thread initialization overhead while intelligently distributing workloads
• Optimized Concurrency Algorithms: Sophisticated work distribution algorithms that maximize parallel processing efficiency while reducing thread contention
• Adaptive In-Memory Database: A purpose-built database system that dynamically constructs a complete file system representation while adapting its internal storage model based on workload characteristics
• Memory Optimization: Advanced memory compaction and storage algorithms that ensure optimal resource utilization, significantly enhancing scalability for large-scale environments

Development and Optimization Methodology

Our development approach emphasizes performance at every level:

• Native Code Optimization: All FolderSizes code is developed in C/C++ and compiled directly to 64-bit machine code using industry-leading optimizing compilers
• Runtime Performance Profiling: Dynamic optimization of execution paths based on real-world usage patterns, ensuring that frequently accessed code paths are optimally positioned
• 64-bit Architecture Support: FolderSizes pioneered native 64-bit support in this product category, an advancement that many competing solutions have yet to implement
• Environment-Specific Optimization: Specialized processing logic that recognizes and adapts to the distinct requirements of local and network-based analysis scenarios

Enterprise Validation and Testing

The robustness of FolderSizes is the result of extensive real-world validation:

• Enterprise Collaboration: Ongoing partnerships with global organizations such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, NASA, Comerica Bank, and Marathon Oil have provided invaluable testing against some of the world’s most demanding storage environments
• Comprehensive Testing Infrastructure: An extensive internal testing framework that simulates extreme edge cases and stress conditions
• Reliability Engineering: Focus on maintaining accuracy and stability in environments where competing solutions often fail

Company Background and Product Evolution

FolderSizes is developed by Key Metric Software, based in Traverse City, Michigan. The company specializes in file system analysis and reporting solutions. Development of FolderSizes began in 2001, with the first commercial release in 2003—representing over 15 years of continuous refinement and enhancement.

The product’s evolution is transparently documented in our comprehensive release notes, which detail the progression of features and capabilities over this extended development timeline.

Conclusion

The performance advantages demonstrated by FolderSizes reflect our commitment to engineering excellence and deep understanding of enterprise storage environments. While we take pride in the advancements achieved to date, our development roadmap continues to focus on further enhancing performance, scalability, and analytical capabilities.

For organizations facing complex storage management challenges, FolderSizes offers not only superior performance but the reliability and scalability required for today’s data-intensive environments.

NASA Johnson Space Center Deployment

Key Metric Software is pleased to announce that FolderSizes has been selected by the engineering team at NASA Johnson Space Center to provide comprehensive disk and file system analysis capabilities across their operations. This strategic implementation will support multiple mission-critical environments:

• Training facilities
• Testing laboratories
• Operational systems aboard the International Space Station

Enterprise Space Applications

This implementation represents a significant validation of FolderSizes’ capabilities in high-reliability environments where system resources must be carefully managed. Space-based computing systems face unique constraints regarding storage capacity and resource utilization, making efficient file system management particularly crucial.

The deployment of FolderSizes in orbital applications demonstrates the software’s reliability, efficiency, and suitability for mission-critical environments where performance and accuracy are paramount.

Organizational Commitment

Key Metric Software is committed to supporting NASA’s specialized storage analysis requirements. This collaboration aligns with our ongoing mission to provide enterprise-grade file system management tools capable of performing in the most demanding operational environments.

This deployment joins our existing portfolio of implementations across aerospace, defense, energy, and financial sectors where precision and reliability are essential requirements.

With the release of FolderSizes v8.3.150, support for Windows Server 2016 has become official.

FolderSizes continues to provide cutting-edge support for new Microsoft operating system releases, this time even ahead of Windows Server 2016 general availability. Our continued goal is to ensure that you have the disk space analysis, reporting, and management capabilities you need when you need them – across all Windows platforms.

Many FolderSizes users frequently ask how to generate comprehensive listings of folders or files within specific directories. This is especially useful when you need to document your file system structure, share information with colleagues, or prepare reports for administrative purposes.

Why FolderSizes Search Is the Perfect Solution

The FolderSizes Search tool excels at creating detailed, flat (non-hierarchical) listings of files and folders with extensive metadata that other utilities simply don’t provide. These listings include:

• File/folder size
• Allocated size (“size on disk”)
• Owner information
• Attributes (hidden, system, etc.)
• Path and name lengths
• Folder depth
• And much more

Beyond just generating these comprehensive lists, FolderSizes allows you to:

• Export results in various formats
• Print listings for documentation
• Directly manage found items (copy, delete, or archive)
• Schedule automated report generation
• Save and load search configurations
• Search across multiple local and network locations simultaneously

Step-by-Step Example: Creating a List of Image Files

Let’s walk through a practical example of using FolderSizes to create a listing of all image files in a specific directory:

1. Click the Search button in the main window ribbon bar
2. On the Search Paths tab, click the New Path button and browse for your target folder
3. Switch to the Search Rules tab and click the New Rule button
4. Select New File Rule from the dropdown menu
5. (Optional) Give your rule a descriptive name instead of the default “Rule #1”
6. In the Name tab of the file rule editor, click the Presets button
7. Select Images from the preset list
8. Click OK to save the rule
9. Click the Start button to begin the search

Results will appear in real-time as FolderSizes processes your files. From here, you can sort, filter, export, or print your comprehensive image file listing.

Beyond the Basics

The Search tool’s capabilities extend far beyond this simple example. You can:

• Create folder rules to match specific directories instead of files
• Combine multiple file and folder rules for complex searches
• Match against a wide range of criteria:
  • Names and patterns
  • File attributes
  • Size ranges
  • Name or path length
  • Age (creation, modification, or access dates)
  • Owner information
  • Folder depth
  • And more

The FolderSizes Search tool provides unmatched versatility for creating detailed file and folder listings that include all the critical information you need. Whether for documentation, reporting, or system management, these capabilities make organizing and understanding your file system structure significantly easier.

If you have specific questions about achieving particular goals with the Search tool, our support team is always ready to help with customized solutions for your file listing needs.

FolderSizes offers powerful capabilities for identifying long NTFS file system paths that might cause compatibility issues with other applications. This guide walks you through the simple process of locating files and folders with excessive path lengths.

Getting Started

1. Launch FolderSizes and click the Search button in the main ribbon bar to open the Search window.
2. Navigate to the Search Paths tab and enter the local or network locations you wish to analyze. You can add multiple paths as needed.
3. Click the Samples button in the Search window toolbar and select the pre-configured template called “Find Long File and Folder Paths.xml” from the list of built-in search samples.

Reviewing and Configuring Search Rules

After loading the sample, you’ll be taken to the Search Rules tab where you’ll see two predefined rules—one for files and one for folders. To examine or modify these rules:

1. Double-click on the file rule to open the File Rule Editor.
2. Select the Name Len tab to view the path length criteria.
3. Verify that the rule is set to match paths with more than 255 characters.
4. Ensure the Count the full path length option is selected (this is crucial as it considers the entire path, not just the filename).
5. Close the File Rule Editor when you’re satisfied with the configuration.

Running the Search

Click the Start button in the Search window to begin the search operation. When completed, the results will display all files and folders with paths exceeding 255 characters.

The search results provide comprehensive information about each item, including:

• Full path
• File/folder size
• Allocated size (“size on disk”)
• Additional attributes (customizable by right-clicking the column header)

Why This Matters

This functionality is particularly valuable because many applications and systems struggle to process paths beyond certain length thresholds. Identifying these long paths helps you proactively manage potential compatibility issues before they cause problems.

With FolderSizes, locating problematic long paths becomes a straightforward task that can save you significant troubleshooting time down the road.