SOLUTION
Quotas are limits on the amount of disk space, or storage, you can use on a given Mines system.
In order to manage shared resources effectively and ensure that they are available to everyone, various types of quotas related to email, user accounts, and use of resources -- like disk space -- have been established. Some quotas are enforced automatically while others are enabled based on current conditions or through periodic review. Exceptions to some quotas can be granted if justified by legitimate academic reasons.
Account holders may log into each of these systems using their MultiPass credentials.
Established Mines computer quotas include the following (last updated 28 November 2020):
| Host Server Name |
File System |
Soft Limit |
Hard Limit |
How to Check Disk Usage/Quota |
| Exchange Online Mailbox (Faculty & Staff Email) |
n/a |
50GB |
50GB |
Depends on email client used |
| Exchange Online Archive Mailbox (Faculty & Staff Email) |
n/a |
90GB |
100GB |
Available upon request - Email Request |
| Exchange Attachment |
n/a |
None |
45MB |
|
| Files (Linux Home Directories) |
/u |
20GB |
20GB |
Run "quota" command |
| Files (Departmental Shared Space) |
\\files\shared (Y:) |
None |
Varies by department |
Windows File Explorer Y: drive icon shows usage |
| Home (ADIT) |
\\home\home |
64GB |
75GB |
Windows File Explorer Z: drive icon shows usage |
| OneDrive (part of Microsoft Office365) |
n/a |
None |
5TB |
|
| Illuminate Websites (deprecated) |
illuminate:/www |
1GB |
1.2GB |
Run "quota" command |
| Illuminate Personal Web Pages (deprecated) |
illuminate:/u |
300MB |
400MB |
Run "quota" command |
NOTES
"Soft quotas" warn you when limits are approached.
A "hard quota" is your maximum allowed usage. Once a hard quota is reached, the account will not function as expected, if at all.
For "Home (ADIT)", a warning email will generally be sent as you approach your hard limit.
To prevent quota problems, actively manage your mailboxes and pay attention to your disk space usage.
On Linux systems, quotas and disk usage are shows by the "quota" command typed into a terminal window. For help interpreting the result, read the manual for the quota command (in a terminal window, type: man quota).
Many email programs use a two-step process to remove mail messages. In many programs, deleting a message only marks it for removal and hides it from view -- it does not actually delete the message until you instruct the software to "purge" or "expunge" or "compress" deleted mail. Learn how your mail software works and be sure that you are completely removing your messages.
Be considerate of others when sending email -- large attachments consume space and cause performance problems, especially for recipients attached to slower networks.
If you need to store large amounts of data during a single login session on a computer in a ITS-managed lab, you can use the scratch space on drive C: (C:\scratch) on that computer. Performance will be better because the data will not travel over the network. Although the data you place in this location may persist over a period of hours or days, you should never leave personal or important data in those locations. Contents of scratch space is subject to deletion at any time and are cleaned up periodically -- files will be removed from c:\scratch without warning! Also, files in C:\scratch may be accessed, viewed or copied by anyone else who logs into that computer; remove sensitive files (to a USB flash drive, for instance) before you log out.
Music, video, and game files use large amounts of disk space and should not be stored on ITS systems. Copyrighted material of any type must be obtained legally. The terms and conditions of licensing agreements and copyrights must be strictly observed, regardless of where files are stored. Sharing copyrighted files, including music and movies, without permission of the copyright holder is illegal and a violation of Mines policy. Don't do it! Violators are subject to network service suspension or termination. Copyright holders monitor peer to peer networks for violations and are increasingly prosecuting students.
If you have significant need for disk space beyond ITS quotas, justified by academic need, you should first approach your major department to see if they can provide you with departmental resources. If your department does not have the necessary resources, ITS will work with you and your department to accommodate your request - please use this Mines Help Center service to request additional space: File Storage Quota Request
Other types of resource quotas, restrictions and limits may apply and will be enforced by system and network administrators based on circumstances. Examples include network-bandwidth consumption, CPU usage on shared systems and servers, and number of processes running on a shared system. System and network administrators are authorized to take action to protect the integrity of resources and to insure that shared resources are available to the majority of users.