Share via


Manage site collection storage limits (SharePoint Server 2010)

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010

A quota specifies the storage limit values for the maximum amount of data that can be stored in a site collection. Quotas also specify the storage size that, when reached, triggers an e-mail alert to the site collection administrator. Quotas can be saved as quota templates, which can then be applied to any site collection in a SharePoint farm. Using quota templates rather than individual quotas can simplify setting storage limits on new site collections. For more information about how to plan quotas, see Plan quota management (SharePoint Server 2010).

Note

The storage limit applies to the site collection as a whole. In other words, the storage limit applies to the total size of the content for the top-level site and for all subsites within the site collection. If versioning is enabled, the versions in a site and the content in the Recycle Bins count toward storage limits. You can also specify a percentage of storage limits for the second-stage Recycle Bin. For more information about Recycle Bin settings, see Configure Recycle Bin settings (SharePoint Server 2010).

For recommendations about how to size content databases and site collections, see Enterprise content storage planning (SharePoint Server 2010) and Storage and SQL Server capacity planning and configuration (SharePoint Server 2010).

When the site collection reaches the maximum storage level, an e-mail message that contains information about the issue is sent to the site collection administrator. The site collection administrator can either delete unused content from the site collection or ask a member of the Farm Administrators group to increase the limits. A farm administrator can do any of the following to change the limits:

  • Change the storage limit on the quota template that the site collection is using.

    Important

    The modified quota template will not be automatically applied to any existing site collections that use the quota template. A member of the Farm Administrators group must manually apply all modified values to all existing sites that use the quota template.

  • Designate a new quota template that has a higher storage limit to the site collection. This automatically increases the limits for the site collection to the limits in the newly designated quota template. This is the preferred method, because the settings in the new quota template are automatically applied to the site collection and no additional action is needed.

  • Change the storage limit for the site collection manually. This overrides the limits set in the quota template that is currently applied to the site collection.

In this article:

  • Change the settings of a quota template

  • Change the quota template for a site collection

  • Change the storage limit for a site collection

Change the settings of a quota template

You must have already created one or more quota templates for these options to be available in Central Administration. The first time that you use this page, you will be given only the option to create a new template.

Note

The modified quota template is not automatically applied to any existing site collections that use the quota template. A member of the Farm Administrators group must manually apply all modified values to all existing sites that use the quota template.

To change the settings of a quota template by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • You must be a member of the Farm Administrators group.
  2. On the Central Administration home page, click Application Management.

  3. On the Application Management page, in the Site Collections section, click Specify quota templates.

  4. On the Quota Templates page, in the Template Name section, in the Template to modify list, select the template that you want to change.

  5. In the Storage Limit Values section, specify the values that you want to apply to the template.

    • If you want to modify the amount of data that can be stored in the database, leave the Limit site storage to a maximum of check box selected, and then type the new storage limit, in megabytes, in the box.

    • If you want an e-mail message to be sent to the site collection administrator when a storage threshold is reached, select the Send warning E-mail when site storage reaches check box, and then type the threshold, in megabytes, in the box.

  6. In the Sandboxed Solutions With Code Limits section, specify the values that you want to apply to the template.

    • If you want to limit the maximum resource usage points per day for sandboxed solutions that contain code, type the new limit in the Limit maximum usage per day to box. The default limit is 300 points.

    • If you want an e-mail message to be sent to the site collection administrator when the usage per day threshold is reached, select the Send warning e-mail when usage per day reaches check box, and then type the threshold, in points, in the box.

  7. Click OK.

Change the quota template for a site collection

If a site collection is close to exceeding its storage limits and you want to increase its size, you can change the quota template that is applied to the site collection to a quota template that has higher limits. This automatically updates the warning and storage limits for the site collection.

To change the quota template for a site collection by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • You must be a member of the Farm Administrators group.
  2. On the Central Administration home page, click Application Management.

  3. On the Application Management page, in the Site Collections section, click Configure quotas and locks.

  4. On the Site Collection Quotas and Locks page, ensure that the correct site collection is displayed. If you want to change the site collection, expand the Site Collection list, and then click Change Site Collection. Use the Select Site Collection page to select a site collection.

  5. In the Site Quota Information section, expand the Current quota template list, and then select the new quota template to apply.

  6. Click OK.

To change the quota template for a site collection by using Windows PowerShell

  1. Verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: See Add-SPShellAdmin.

  2. Click Start, and then click All Programs.

  3. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products.

  4. Click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.

  5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:

    Set-SPSite -Identity "<Site>" -QuotaTemplate "<Template>"
    

    Where:

    • <Site> is the URL or GUID of the site collection whose quota template you want to change.

    • <Template> is the name or GUID of the replacement quota template.

For more information, see Set-SPSite.

Note

We recommend that you use Windows PowerShell when performing command-line administrative tasks. The Stsadm command-line tool has been deprecated, but is included to support compatibility with previous product versions.

Change the storage limits for a site collection

Use these procedures to change the storage limits for a site collection.

To change the storage limits for a site collection by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • You must be a member of the Farm Administrators group.
  2. On the Central Administration home page, click Application Management.

  3. On the Application Management page, in the Site Collections section, click Configure quotas and locks.

  4. On the Site Collection and Quota Locks page, ensure that the correct site collection is displayed. If you want to change the site collection, in the Site Collection section, expand the Site Collection list, and then click Change Site Collection. Use the Select Site Collection page to select a site collection.

  5. If the site collection currently uses a quota template, do the following to specify an individual quota:

    • On the Site Collection Quotas and Locks page, in the Site Quota Information section, expand the Current quota template list, and then select Individual Quota.
  6. Leave the Limit site storage to a maximum of check box selected, and then type the new maximum value in megabytes.

  7. If you want to send site storage notification e-mail messages to the site collection administrator, select the Send warning e-mail when site storage reaches check box, and then type the value in megabytes.

  8. If you want to limit the maximum resource usage points per day for sandboxed solutions, type the new limit in the Limit maximum usage per day to box. The default is 300 points.

  9. If you want an e-mail message to be sent to the site collection administrator when the usage per day threshold is reached, select the Send warning e-mail when usage per day reaches check box, and then type the threshold, in points, in the box. The default is 100 points.

  10. Click OK.

To change the storage limits for a site collection by using Windows PowerShell

  1. Verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: See Add-SPShellAdmin.

  2. Click Start, and then click All Programs.

  3. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products.

  4. Click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.

  5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:

    Set-SPSite -Identity "<Site>" -MaxSize <Limit>
    

    Where:

    • <Site> is the URL of the site collection whose storage limits you want to change.

    • <Limit> is the new storage limit for the site collection, in megabytes.

      Note

      The new storage limit overrides the limit set in the quota template that is currently applied to the site collection.

      For more information about the Set-SPSite cmdlet, see Set-SPSite.

    For information about how to use Windows PowerShell and the SharePoint object model to set the maximum usage per day and the warning level threshold for sandboxed solutions, see "Using Windows PowerShell for Administration" in Chapter 4: Sandboxed Solutions (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=219528), an excerpt from the book Inside Microsoft SharePoint 2010 on MSDN.

See Also

Concepts

Create, edit, and delete quota templates (SharePoint Server 2010)
Performance and capacity management (SharePoint Server 2010)