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Knowledge Center

Storage Manager shows my storage usage is higher than expected. What can I do?

Last updated:Nov 6, 2023

Storage Manager shows my storage usage is higher than expected. What can I do?

Symptoms

If your storage usage is higher than expected, you may want to check what is taking up the most storage space and take measures to free up storage space.1

Notes:

  1. For example, the overall storage usage is high despite all the shared folders and LUNs combined not occupying a lot of storage space.

Resolution

1. Check the volume usage (applicable only to DSM 7.0 and above)

Check the Usage Details of your volume to find out if any of the following services take up a substantial amount of volume space:

  • Shared Folder
  • Hybrid Share Folder
  • LUN/VMM
  • Synology Drive database
  • Snapshot
  • Others (e.g., system and package configuration files and user data)

2. Check applications and services

Listed below are possible applications and services that may take up a large amount of storage space:

  • Synology Drive or Cloud Station1
  • Snapshot Replication2
  • Download Station3
  • Active Backup for Business4
  • Recycle Bins (of shared folders)5
  • Hyper Backup7

3. Check for abnormally large folders

Check if any of your folders contain a large amount of data:

  1. Sign in to your Synology NAS via SSH. (Tutorial)
  2. Run the following command to go to the target volume:
    cd /volumeX
    • "X" represents the name of the volume. For example, if the target volume is "Volume 1," then enter "cd /volume1".
  3. Run the "du" command:6
    du -h -d1 | sort -h -r
  4. Use the following information to help you understand the results and look for folders with a large amount of data:
    • @synologydrive/@cloudstation: The shared folder belonging to Synology Drive or Cloud Station.1
    • @sharesnap: Shared folder snapshots.2
    • @iSCSI: LUN snapshots.2
    • @download: The shared folder belonging to Download Station.3
    • @ActiveBackup: The shared folder belonging to Active Backup for Business.4
    • @img_bkp_cache: The shared folder belonging to Hyper Backup7

4. Contact Synology Technical Support

If the problem persists after trying the steps above, please contact Synology Technical Support. You can launch Support Center on your Synology NAS and provide us with the following information to speed up the troubleshooting process:

  • The actions you have taken to free up storage space.
  • The results of running the "du" command.

Notes:

  1. Refer to this article to learn how you can free up storage space in Synology Drive Server when it is about to become full.
  2. Refer to this article to learn how to free up the space consumed by snapshots.
  3. Refer to this article to learn how to free up space taken by Download Station.
  4. Refer to this article to learn how to free up space to increase storage when Active Backup for Business is taking up used space.
  5. Refer to this article to learn how to empty the Recycle Bin.
    • Files that have not been permanently deleted still take up storage space.
    • Emptying the Recycle Bin may not immediately free up space. The system needs time to reclaim unused space from deleted shared folders. If there is still insufficient storage afterward, other snapshots or file clones might be taking up the available space.
  6. Calculation of storage usage via the "du" command may take time.
  7. Refer to this article to learn how to free up the space taken by backup versions. We recommend enabling backup rotation or lowering the maximum number of versions.
Symptoms
Resolution
1. Check the volume usage (applicable only to DSM 7.0 and above)
2. Check applications and services
3. Check for abnormally large folders
4. Contact Synology Technical Support