Information Technology Services

• What are quotas?
• Why are quotas enforced?
• What are the quotas for disk usage?
• What is an FTE (Full Time Equivalent)?
• How many files can I store on my User drive (approximately)?
• What will happen if I try to put a file on the Novell servers and I am already at my quota?
• How can I determine how much disk space I am using?
• What are the benefits to having data on the Novell servers?
• General rules/information on storing files on the Novell servers
• What are some alternative ways of keeping data?
• How can I back up data to CD?
• About the SAN (Storage Area Network)

Quotas are limitations on the amount of disk storage a user is permitted to fill on a computer system/server.

• Quotas ensure that ALL users have equitable and reliable access to their data.

In the past, the shared servers have been filled by by one or two users, leaving the rest of campus without space to put files. These situations can take a lot of time to resolve since it can be difficult to track down who is using the space.

• Quotas enable ITS to better plan campus needs for disk space.

Planning will help NDSU use resources wisely. One goal is to reduce the expense of unnecessary servers and focus on what is needed. Read more about the SAN.

• Quotas encourage the wise use of resources.

We encourage users to be more aware of the documents they store on the shared drives.

• Remove outdated files, old drafts, or temporary files
• Save files that are no longer actively needed to less expensive back-up media. What are some alternative ways of keeping data?

There are three types of quotas: individual, departmental shared drive, and cross-departmental shared drive.

For individual users (U:):

• All user accounts are automatically created with 1 Gigabyte of storage on the user drive (U:). How much is 1 Gigabyte?

For departments (S:):

• Departments are permitted 350 Megabytes of storage per Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE) user in their department or 5 Gigabytes, whichever is greater. Read about FTEs.

For example, if the Department of Balloon Tying has 30 FTEs, it would be permitted 30 x 350 Megabytes, or 10.5 Gigabytes of storage for all department users combined on the shared folder (S:).

For cross-departmental shared drives (X:):

• For cross-departmental shared drives, each share is allotted 1 Gigabyte of space.

• This storage is independent of department/user space and can also be increased by requesting additional disk space.

• Please contact the Help Desk at 231-8685 x1 to arrange for a cross-departmental shared drive.

The base quota for each department shared drive (S:) will be figured using Full Time Equivalents (FTE).

The FTE represents the number of full-time employees a department would have if the reported number of hours worked by all employees (full-time and part-time) had been worked only by full-time employees. This number is reported by the Office of Payroll.

This number will be retrieved from the Office of Payroll every 6 months in order for ITS to update the quota allotment appropriately for each department.

Each person has 150 Megabytes of storage on the user (U:) drive? This space will allow you to store approximately:

• 340 .jpg-encoded pictures (each 1024x768)
  OR
• 17,065 four-page MS Word documents
  OR
• 68 PDF e-textbooks (each 33-chapter text is approximately 15 Mb)

If you are at your quota and attempt to put a file onto your U: drive, you will receive an error indicating that there is no more disk space. Before you can add new files to the U: drive, you will need to delete files to free more space on your user drive.

If you attempt to put a file onto your S: or X: drive and receive an error indicating that there is no more disk space, then your department (or shared department) has reached its departmental quota.

• In order to save the file to the shared drive, the department disk usage as a whole needs to be reduced.
• Either you or other persons in your department will need to delete files before your new document can be saved.
• Optionally, your department may request additional departmental drive space.

On your User (U:) drive:

1. Open My Computer from your desktop or Start menu.
2. Right-click on the drive and choose Properties.
3. Click the NetWare Info tab.
4. In the third section you should see Space Restriction (your quota) and Space Available.

On your departmental Shared (S:) drive:

1. Open My Computer from your desktop or Start menu.
2. Double-click on the (S:) drive.
3. If you have multiple groups within your department, you may need to double-click on your department folder
4. Right-click on your department or group folder and choose Properties.
5. Click the Netware Info tab.
6. In the third section, you should see Space Restriction (your quota) and Space Available.

• Files on the Novell servers are easy-to-access and use. Saving or retrieving files from the Novell shared drives is just as easy as saving to your local workstation.

• New files on the drives are backed up nightly and the servers are backed up entirely once a month. This means that-short of a natural disaster-file loss should not occur.
  • In contrast, files stored on your local computer may be lost at any time due to corruption of the operating system or from computer viruses.

• Using the Novell shared drive allows you to share work with other members of your department in a safe and secure method. Rather than e-mailing files or using floppy disks, you can simply tell your coworkers where the file you wish to share is located on the department shared drive and they can then open it (if you are in the same department or have a cross-departmental share with their department).

There are several types of files that should NOT be store on the Novell servers. These include:

• Programs. Do not store programs on your S: or U: drives. If an application needs to be installed on a shared drive, contact ITS for information. The Novell file system has an
  R: drive for shared applications.

• Backups of your entire computer hard drive. This type of backup should be done using CDs or DVDs.

• Illegal files. This includes files that are copyright protected and to which the University does not hold license, or any other files of questionable content.

• Personal files should be kept on the U-drive only. Privacy on the S, W, R, T and X drives is not implied or guaranteed.

  Privacy is not implied or guaranteed on the U: drive. Normally, you will be the only person with direct access to the data. Under certain circumstances, your department can gain access to this data if the proper paperwork is filed with the NDSU and/or NDUS security officer(s).

What you SHOULD use the Novell shared drives for:

• Work-related files and documents
• Work-in-progress
• Files to be shared within your department

What you SHOULD use your Novell User drive for:

• E-mail backups
• Resume for internal job postings

ITS recommends that any files that are current, works in progress, or are otherwise mission-critical be stored on the Novell file servers to avoid data loss. However, for archival purposes, other methods may be used to reduce disk usage.

If you or your department are looking for a way to reduce disk usage, the first, and perhaps most overlooked thing to check, is that you do not have redundancy of files stored. For instance, files that are stored in two locations and are otherwise identical files, or old versions of files that are outdated and no longer needed.

In cases where data is no longer relevant to current tasks (for example, a PowerPoint presentation for graduation 2002), you or your department may use other methods of storing data in order to reduce disk space usage.

• The recommended method is to burn the data (documents, files, photos, et cetera) to CD or DVD disks.
  • Data saved to CD or DVD disks will last for many years, and you will not have to worry about data loss caused by a computer crash.

• You could also use a USB "key" to store your document.
  • Much safer than floppy or zip disks.
  • Should still make CD/DVD backups of the data on a semi-regular basis to assure that accidental physical loss of the USB key will not lead to complete data loss.
  • Remove the USB key from your computer whenever the computer is formatted and reinstalled, whenever software is installed, and when the computer is rebooted in order to assure that accidental erasure does not occur.

• E-mail attachments are NOT a good way to store files and documents.
  • It is recommended that you download and save attachments from e-mail and then delete the actual e-mail message. You can back up the downloaded attachments using other methods or put them on a Novell server.

• Floppies and Zip disks are the least reliable method of saving data. It is extremely important that a copy of the document exist in a safer location (i.e. on the shared drives, local computer, CD, et cetera). File loss due to floppy or zip disk failure is common, even among brand-new disks.

Before removing files from the Novell servers, you may want to save the files to CD for archival/reference purposes. Please read this page for more information on making CD backups.

A storage area network, or SAN, is a combination of computers and storage devices that are connected over a high-speed network. The primary function of these machines is to store and protect data. At NDSU, the SAN is used to host data for the NetWare file servers, the GroupWise e-mail server, and the IMAP e-mail servers.

The backup technology requires no additional effort to use. It is built in when you save your data on the Novell server. It enables

• automated backups
• history of modifications