Quota Terminology

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Following are a few definitions regarding disk quota management:

• Soft Quota. Usage changes are monitored, but quota limits are not enforced. The soft quota mode means that quota violation events are not generated and file operations do not fail due to violation of a disk quota parameter.

• Hard Quota. Changes in disk/directory usage are also tracked; however, quota limits are enforceable, thus enabling the administrator to exert some control over user space consumption.

• Quota Threshold. A threshold is a point at which something is detectable or observable. In disk management, this can be either a point at which a warning is issued (such as x% of the disk quota has now been used) or the point at which the limit of disk space usage is reached. Different disk quota management tools permit various types and levels of thresholds. When a threshold is reached, it triggers specific actions such as e-mail or pop-up alerts, event log notifications, and restrictions.

• User Quotas. A user quota allows control over the amount of data any user can store in a directory or volume.

• Directory Quotas. Directory quotas make it possible to control the total amount of data that may be stored in a directory or volume, regardless of user.

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