NCSA Home
Contact Us | Intranet | Search

Andrew File System

NCSA AFS Quota Policy

Because of the finite amount of AFS disk space, we have had to create a policy for creating and upgrading volumes within AFS. Most AFS quota increases are requested by users and projects. So each of these types of requests are addressed below. Any other request will be determined by the AFS administrators. If there are any other questions reguarding this policy then please email us.

User Volumes

Initial quota: 3 MB
Maximum quota: 100 MB

Upgrade
Total Space
0
3 MB
1
25 MB
2*
50 MB
3*
100 MB
* Upgrade needs beyond Level 1 must
be 'demonstrated' prior to increase.

Projects Volumes

All project space requests need to provide the following data:
  • Project PI
  • Project Name
  • Project Description (1 sentence)
  • Grant Number (if available)

Initial quota: 25 - 100 MB
Maximum quota: 500 MB

Upgrade
Total Space
0
25 - 100 MB
1
250 MB
2
500 MB
3*
>500 MB
* If a project requires more than 500 MB,
additional space must be purchased
(see below).

Web Volumes

Initial quota: 25 - 100 MB
Maximum quota: Depends on replication status of volume.

Upgrade
Total Space
0
25 - 100 MB
1*
200 or 500MB

* How much a web volume quota is increased depends on whether or not the volume is going to be replicated. When a volume is replicated there are additional copies of the data on other server machines. This provides access to the data even when one of the machines may be down. We replicate volumes on three different server machines. However, people can opt to not have their volume replicated at all. So if a web volume is replicated, the maximum amount of disk space (quota) is 200MB (which is actually 600MB with replication). And volumes that are not replicated have a maximum quota of 500MB. Any disk needs beyond this can be purchased, which is described below.

Purchasing Disk

The price for disk space varies with the currnt prices for RAID disk. RAID disk is a bit more expensive but has the advantages of being easier to manage and much better reliability. The following are a few of the advanatges that come when purchasing AFS disk:
  • All AFS disk is RAID, so there is very little chance of data loss from disk crashes.
  • AFS projects disk space is backed up nightly and restores can be done within minutes if it you just want the previous days data, or within hours if the backup tapes are still local, and it may take a day if the tape has been moved off site.
  • 24x7 support from C&C staff on AFS servers.
For pricing and ordering please contact afs@ncsa.uiuc.edu.
We will need a purchase order number for the disk when ordering.