# Archiving variables - protection against database overflow

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/archiving-variables-protection-against-database-overflow/86811>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [March 5, 2024, 8:52am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/archiving-variables-protection-against-database-overflow/86811 "2024-03-05T08:52:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![grzegorz.kaczmarczyk](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/grzegorz.kaczmarczyk/32/24167_2.png) [@grzegorz.kaczmarczyk](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/grzegorz.kaczmarczyk)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 8:52am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/archiving-variables-protection-against-database-overflow/86811/1 "2024-03-05T08:52:35Z")

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Is there a setting in Ignition to prevent database overflow, when you are saving tags in historian?

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**Author:** ![Transistor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/transistor/32/3380_2.png) [@Transistor](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Transistor)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 9:09am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/archiving-variables-protection-against-database-overflow/86811/2 "2024-03-05T09:09:13Z")

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I think your options are listed in

> **[Tag History Providers | Ignition User Manual](https://www.docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.1/ignition-modules/tag-historian/tag-history-providers#internal-historian-provider)**
>
> The Tag Historian module uses a concept of "History Providers" as a means to keep track of different storage configurations. Each provider is responsible for maintaining its own set of tables and records.

Use the browser search function and look for instances of "prune".

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**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/archiving-variables-protection-against-database-overflow/86811/3 "2024-03-05T17:00:17Z")

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There's nothing in Ignition that connects to your database (a third party program), asks it how much space it has, and changes how Ignition works as a result.

You can (and should) set up pruning, but Ignition's historian pruning is not strictly tied to DB space considerations.

Also, hard drive space is _way_ cheaper than engineering effort. If you're worried about it, get a competent DB, such as PostgreSQL (free) or MariaDB (free) and sit it on a dedicated box with a boatload of disk space. It's going to be less headache in the long run than sweating a few gigabytes here and there.