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Grex > Coop13 > #62: Disk Quotas on the New Grex Machine | |
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| Author |
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gelinas
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Disk Quotas on the New Grex Machine
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Dec 30 06:41 UTC 2003 |
On the new grex machine, we will have larger disks for the "user"
partitions. The OS will also be able to enforce quotas directly, without
staff intervention. Right now, the plans are to use the quota system to
share the available disk-space equitably.
The quota system has three limits: a 'soft' limit, which generates a
warning, a 'hard' limit which cannot be exceeded, and a 'grace period'
after which the 'soft' limit becomes a 'hard' limit.
When the 'hard' limit is reached, no new files can be created. (If I
remember correctly, existing files cannot be written to, either.)
The 'grace period' takes effect when the 'soft' limit is exceeded.
If files are not removed before the grace period expires, the soft limit
becomes the hard limit, and no new files can be created.
The questions to be answered are:
What should the soft limit be?
What should the hard limit be?
What should the grace period be?
Another question might be:
Should the hard limit and soft limit be the same,
eliminating the grace period?
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| 73 responses total. |
gelinas
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response 1 of 73:
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Dec 30 06:49 UTC 2003 |
Here are my answsers to the questions, as a starting point for discussion:
2 megabytes
3 megabytes
7 days
Obviously, I don't think the soft and hard limits should be the same.
I recommend upping the quota from one megabyte to two simply because
we'll have the space.
The three-megabyte hard limit will eliminate most of the current lot of
space-wasters on grex.
The grace period will allow people the time to figure out what to do with
their excess files before they can't do anything. Seven days should be
enough time, especially since they will be warned as soon as they exceed
the soft limit.
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willcome
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response 2 of 73:
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Dec 30 07:58 UTC 2003 |
Does it really matter? The way information is these days, two megabytes isn't
really any more substantial than one megabyte; and, the way time flows these
days, seven days isn't any different in substrate than six.
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sholmes
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response 3 of 73:
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Dec 30 08:10 UTC 2003 |
7 days grace period looks short , like when you are travelling and not
accessing grex. And hwo do we get notified that we have crossed the soft limit
? mail ?
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mary
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response 4 of 73:
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Dec 30 12:20 UTC 2003 |
By increasing disk space over what's allowed now, will we be
encouraging storage of graphic files?
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gelinas
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response 5 of 73:
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Dec 30 13:35 UTC 2003 |
Re #3: You exceed quota by creating a file, writing to a file, or moving
a file onto grex; it is an _interactive_ process, with immediate feedback.
The systems I've used with quotas enabled also informed me of the "problem"
each time I logged in.
Re #4: Most of what I see is many (relatively) little text files. And tar
files moved in from outside. Others may see something different.
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gull
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response 6 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:11 UTC 2003 |
Re resp:4: I think the question of storing graphics files can be dealt
with seperately.
The proposed limits look okay to me. I suggest we start fairly small.
If the limits turn out to be conservative, we can raise them and no one
will complain. Lowering them after the fact is more difficult.
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keesan
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response 7 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:39 UTC 2003 |
I sometimes use grex to download a large file to my home directory and thence
to my computer. Should I be downloading to /tmp instead? By large I mean
as high as 1MB.
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slynne
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response 8 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:49 UTC 2003 |
I dont have any strong opinions about this. I think your recomendations
are fine, gelinas.
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jp2
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response 9 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:50 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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jp2
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response 10 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:52 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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gelinas
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response 11 of 73:
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Dec 30 15:56 UTC 2003 |
Re 7: We should put quotas on /tmp as well, I think. Do you often (or ever)
have more than one of those 1MB files, Sindi?
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other
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response 12 of 73:
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Dec 30 16:16 UTC 2003 |
I have two distinct notions here.
One is "Why should we bother with the soft limit and grace period at
all? User will be informed either during newuser or in a welcome
email of the quota limits, and presumably those limits will be
referenced in viewable documents such as the statement of principles
or user guidelines."
The other is "The soft limit should only be a way to remind users of
the limit before they actually hit it. Effectively, this means an
infinite grace period so that the soft limit never becomes a hard
limit, but does trigger a notice when the hard limit is approached."
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aruba
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response 13 of 73:
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Dec 30 16:35 UTC 2003 |
I don't have a strong feeling here, but I'm confused about what happens to
the users files when the grace period expires, and he's still somewhere
between the soft and hard limits. Do the files get deleted?
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jp2
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response 14 of 73:
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Dec 30 16:52 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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keesan
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response 15 of 73:
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Dec 30 16:54 UTC 2003 |
Re the 1M files in /tmp, most recently I actually downloaded a 3.2M file via
grex when none of my DOS browsers could handle my webmail site. I did
remember to delete it immediately after getting it to my computer.
Would a 5M limit on files in /tmp be reasonable? Do they go away at the end
of each day? Someone once posted something in /tmp for me to download.
I rarely use grex to download anything over about 250K from the web but would
do larger files if we ever got faster modems. I like using lynx at grex
because it often goes much faster than my own copy via my ISP and then to
download something would mean hanging up on grex and dialing the ISP if I did
not do it this way. Lynx no longer works at Driverguide.
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jep
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response 16 of 73:
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Dec 30 17:02 UTC 2003 |
Will the quotas apply to e-mail?
I don't store files on Grex, so don't have any personal concerns about
quotas. I'd say this is the sort of thing where you try something,
then if it doesn't work, you know more and you adjust accordingly.
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aruba
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response 17 of 73:
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Dec 30 17:35 UTC 2003 |
Yeah, that attitude sounds right to me, too.
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gull
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response 18 of 73:
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Dec 30 17:56 UTC 2003 |
I think the soft limit is important to avoid people's conference
participation files from getting trashed without warning if they
accidentally bump above the limit.
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naftee
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response 19 of 73:
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Dec 30 18:54 UTC 2003 |
What, exactly, is wrong with the storage of graphics? Certainly it can't be
bandwidth, because with the faster NextGreX machine, it should take that in
stride, no?
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gelinas
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response 20 of 73:
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Dec 30 19:31 UTC 2003 |
Yes, it's bandwidth, the number of bits that can pass in and out on the
network connection. A faster CPU, or a bigger disk, does not improve
the network bandwidth.
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mary
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response 21 of 73:
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Dec 30 19:45 UTC 2003 |
If we increased the quotas enough to allow folks to put
web-accessible pictures on Grex, would that traffic
noticeably slow most user's sessions?
I'm *really* hoping that Grex can be significantly faster
on the new machine. Unless Grex is faster I expect fewer
and fewer users will stick around long enough to get hooked.
Don't know if that helps but it is where my concerns rest.
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cross
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response 22 of 73:
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Dec 30 20:07 UTC 2003 |
Regarding #20; That's never been measured, and is only a conjecture.
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willcome
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response 23 of 73:
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Dec 30 20:32 UTC 2003 |
You're all silly-asses.
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gull
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response 24 of 73:
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Dec 30 21:05 UTC 2003 |
I think the ban on graphics was also intended to keep people from
putting up porno sites. The target audience for ASCII porn is pretty small.
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