Setting Disk Quotas

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Although there are advantages to having users store their documents and profiles on the network, it is possible for a few users to use all the available hard disk space on a server. You can configure disk quotas to prevent this, and to balance the needs of users for file storage space vs. the costs of adding more storage space.

You can set disk quotas on a per-user per-volume basis. If the individual user's profile exceeds the predetermined file limit, the user will not be able to log off the computer until the user reduces the size of the file. Per-user per-volume quotas have two key advantages:

  • When you set quotas on a volume, these quotas are valid only for that volume. If users store files on several NTFS file system volumes, you can configure separate quotas on each volume.

  • Quotas are charged to the person who owns the file. Thus, lines of ownership are clear-cut, even if a user shares one or more files with others.

Guidelines for Setting Disk Quotas

It is important that you provide sufficient disk space for your users' valid storage requirements, without forcing your organization to add unnecessary servers for all the files that users could ** post to a network share. Rather than ask users themselves how much network disk space they require, consider using your initial pilot deployments to develop meaningful data on how much network storage users actually require.

Keep in mind that not all users will have the same storage requirements. Software developers, for example, require greater network storage than other users. Financial and engineering users represent two other user groups that frequently have larger and more numerous files than other users.

In order to set effective disk quotas for your organization, learn what your users' legitimate requirements are before enforcing rigid quotas.

For information about setting and using disk quotas, see "Determining Windows 2000 Storage Management Strategies" in this book.