Local and remote implementation of disk quotas

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Local and remote implementation of disk quotas

You can enable disk quotas on NTFS volumes residing on both local computers and remote computers. You can use quotas to limit the amount of volume space available to different users who log on to the local computer and limit volume usage by remote users.

You can use quotas to make sure that:

  • Multiple users who log on to the same computer do not interfere with the other users' ability to work.

  • Disk space on public servers is not monopolized by one or more users.

  • Users do not use excessive disk space on a shared folder on your personal computer.

To enable quotas on remote computer volumes, those volumes must be shared from the volume's root directory and you must be a member of the Administrators group on the remote computer. In addition, those volumes must be formatted NTFS and exist on a computer running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems. For instructions describing how to enable quotas on remote computers, see Manage disk quotas on a remote computer.

When you implement disk quotas on a system volume, take into account the disk space used by the Windows files. Depending on the free space available on the volume, you might have to set either a high quota limit or no limit at all for the user who installed Windows. If Windows was installed by an administrator, you do not need to do this because administrators and members of the Administrators group have an unlimited quota limit.

For instructions describing how to enable quotas, see Enable disk quotas.