Limiting user disk space
It is important to limit the amount of disk space available to prevent a single user from filling up the disk on the server. By limiting the disk space available per user, a user can only fill the user's own allocated space. Other users can still work, using their own disk allocation.
You can limit the use of disk space by assigning disk quotas and limiting mailbox size.
Assigning disk quotas
A disk quota limits the amount of information you can store on the server. Disk quotas can help limit the damage caused by users saving too many files on the server, by forcing the saving of files to stop before no free space is left on the disk.
You can assign disk quotas by either using the default values assigned by Windows Small Business Server (as shown in the following table) or by defining your own quota settings. Quotas are set on the server volume where the users' shared folders are located. Default disk quotas for User, Power User, and Mobile User templates are shown in the following table:
| Quota element | Quota setting |
|---|---|
Limit disk space |
1 GB |
Set warning level |
900 MB |
Deny disk space when exceeding quota |
Yes |
Log when user exceeds quota |
Yes |
Log when user exceeds warning |
Yes |
The user accounts created based on the Administrator template and the built-in Administrator account have no quota limit.
For more information about modifying default quotas for a single user, see "Modify user disk space limits and warning levels" at the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=53413). For more information about modifying default quotas for all users, see "Assign default quota values" at the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=53415).
Limiting mailbox size
Windows Small Business Server retrieves and stores all the e-mail messages for your organization and sets default quotas on Exchange mailbox size for individual users, which saves disk space on the server.
You can use Exchange Server 2003 to change and manage the settings for mailbox size limits, as shown in the following table:
| Mailbox settings | Description | Size limits |
|---|---|---|
A size limit that sends a warning to a user |
Use this setting to monitor disk space usage and prompt users to manage their mailbox size. If users often exceed this limit, instruct them to create personal folders (PSTs) on their local computers where they can store older e-mail messages, reducing the amount of e-mail stored on the server. |
175 MB |
A size limit that prevents a user from sending and receiving additional e-mail messages |
Use this setting to prevent users from sending new e-mail messages until their mailbox size is decreased. If users often exceed this limit, instruct them to create personal folders on their local computers to reduce the amount of e-mail stored on the server. |
200 MB |
For information about how to change default mailbox settings, see Set mailbox size limits for all users.