Mastering ArcGIS Enterprise Administration

Operating system-level directories and files

When it comes to naming folders for storing data on disk, developing a standard and using it consistently is paramount. Some simple rules to start with are as follows:

• No spaces in directory or file names. No exceptions. I know, it's 2017 and we aren't running Windows NT, but spaces in directory and file names can still cause problems.
• Keep names short, yet descriptive. For example, if you need folders for both ArcGIS Server connection files and Enterprise geodatabase files, you can name them ags_connections and db_connections, but you can also just have a connections folder with the ags and db folders underneath connections. Same for files; keep them as descriptive as possible, but only as long ...