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Isolated Storage Overview

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Updated: October 2010

With isolated storage, data is always isolated by the user in a virtual file system that can be just one file in the root directory or a tree of directories and files.

The isolated storage data compartment is an abstraction, not a specific storage location. It consists of one or more isolated storage files, called stores, which contain the actual directory locations where data is stored. Any kind of data can be saved in the store.

Stores usually reside on the client but an application can also use isolated storage on a server. However, Silverlight does not support roaming profiles that enable information to travel with a user.

Quota Groups

The amount of isolated storage available for an application to use depends on the allocated space that the host domain can use on a particular client's computer. This allocated space is called a quota group.

An application on a domain shares the quota group with all the other applications on that domain. This enables multiple applications in the same domain to share a single quota. Note that domain in this context refers to a virtual host domain, such as Microsoft.com, not to an application domain.

A quota group's default size is 1 MB. An application can request to increase the quota group size with the IncreaseQuotaTo method. If the user approves the increased size, that size is the new quota group size that all applications on that domain can share. In addition, Silverlight provides a configuration value that enables you to set the isolated storage size to the maximum allowed value. For more information, see the Isolated Storage section of the Group Policy Settings page.

Change History

Date

History

Reason

October 2010

Added information about setting the maximum isolated storage size in Silverlight.

Information enhancement.