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> Helpdesk >Policies > Service Center > Disk Space Fees
Extended Network Disk Space
Policy Fees FAQ's
Policy
I. This policy addresses two types of network disk space usage:
- User home directories (N: drive) which are privately accessible by the user
- User-requested shared directories which are accessed by multiple collaborators
II. Note that extended disk space has two costs associated with it (Data backup and Server disk space). Those over quota and not on private servers will be charged A and B (below). Current quotas are:
- User home directory quota - 11GB (single user access)
- Group/Project shared directories - 20GB (multiple user access)
III. All shared directories will be associated with a party responsible for authorizing user access to these shared spaces. This authorizing authority will be the PI in many cases. The party responsible for paying any bills for extended disk usage may be someone other than this authorizing authority. It is recognized that an individual may be the authorizing authority for a number of different projects each with its own group space. Each authorizing authority, however, has one 20 GB group/project space quota which may be spread over a number of individual directories or projects. That is, the total across all associated projects has an aggregate 20 GB quota for each authorizing authority (rather than the party responsible for billing).
IV. Fees are presented as annual fees but billing will occur on the usual quarterly basis.
V. Disk space usage will be monitored and billed in the following manner:
- Scans will be made at some point midway through each quarter.
- Users at = 80% of quota will be notified where they stand after each scan.
- Users and groups not already paying for beyond-quota disk usage will have a grace period of one quarter before being billed for extended disk usage. That is, if they are beyond quota for two consecutive scans/quarters, the first bill received will be at the end of the second quarter.
Fees
- Standard, high-performance, server space: $5.50/GB/year
- Low-performance, slow access, server space: $2/GB/year (for fairly static group data)
B. Data Backup and Admin
- $.45/GB/year for backup media
- $.05/GB/year for admin and infrastructure support (basic infrastructure costs are covered in basic services fees)
- This total of $.50/GB/year is an annual charge which is then multiplied by a number that depends on the choice of backup schedule shown below.
- Current - Monthly baseline, nightly incrementals, 6-month retention
-- 11 unit multiplier for multiple cycles of media needed for retention. - Quarterly retention - Monthly baseline, nightly incrementals, 3-month
retention
-- 6 unit multiplier for multiple cycles of media needed for retention. - Negotiated, special needs baseline backup with scheduled backup intervals -
$.50/GB/each backup + $120 admin annually (admin fee required because non-standard backups require additional admin
time for setup, scheduling, and management of tapes not in the standard backup groups).
* at least 1 backup per year required
* maximum 2 yr retention
- Current - Monthly baseline, nightly incrementals, 6-month retention
C. Private Server Admin - $500/year (+$100 if on backup)
- Those who purchase private servers will be charged B and C (backup and private server admin) but will be providing their own extended disk space, A.
- FCR system administration ($500/yr) is required on all private servers on the Forestry network in order to minimize system incompatibilities and security problems. Private servers are also required to be on manufacturer's maintenance.
- If the private server will be backed up, an additional $100 fee covers the backup client license and annual backup software and hardware maintenance required to backup an additional machine.
- The server must have a current hardware maintenance contract to remain under the administration of FCR. Typically, the first 3 years of hardware maintenance are covered in the initial purchase of the hardware. Annual hardware maintenance fees beyond the initial contract are the responsibility of the project.
Examples:
I. 50 GB user – charged for 40 GB space over quota, backup option #1
- $5.50 * 40 = $220 annually for disk space
- $.50 * 40 * 11 = $220 annually for backup option #1
- $440 total annual fee (approx. $37 per month)
II. 250 GB PI group space – charged for 230 GB space over quota, – if the group chooses backup option #2 and low performance disk space is adequate
- $2.00 * 230 = $460 annually for low performance disk space
- $.50 * 230 * 6 = $690 annually for backup option #2
- $1150 total annual fee (approx. $100 per month)
III. 400 GB group with private server – charged for 380 GB over quota, backup option #2
- $600 for server admin and backup
- $.50 * 380 * 6 = $1140 annually for backup option #2
- $1740 total annual fee (approx. $145 per month)
FAQ's
- Why implement an extended service fee for use of large volumes of network disk space?
- How are server disk space costs calculated?
- Why are the quotas for home directories and group directories set at 10 GB and 20 GB respectively?
- May I see some disk usage statics?
- Why private servers?
I. Why implement an extended service fee for use of large volumes of network disk space?
- High volume demand for disk space (and backup media) has a direct impact on costs, increasing costs. Holding the line on Basic Service fees means that FCR is limited in the network user space that can be provided and backed up as a basic service.
- Many large disk volume users are moving from the Unix world to the Windows world. When these users worked in the Unix world, their Unix support fees covered backup of their large data volumes. As these large data volumes migrate to Windows servers, our Windows backup costs rise, therefore, these costs need to be recovered by an extended fee in the Windows world.
- The cumulative impact of many users who occupy 10-20GB of disk space is to increase computing costs by requiring purchase of more servers and backup of more data. While these "smaller large users" historically have not paid additional fees for the impact of their disk space usage, some large disk space groups (>500 GB) have purchased their own private servers and paid for backup services to support their need for large amounts of disk space. A disk quota and fee for extended disk space will bring some equity to this situation.
- An expected consequence of implementing an extended service fee will be that users will look for assistance in thinking about their data and managing it in appropriate ways rather than saving everything on the network and forgetting about it.
II. How are server disk space costs calculated?
- Annual lease on a 1000 GB server is $5500. ($5.50/GB/yr) This cost will be examined on an annual basis. It is expected that the same money will buy more disk space in the future. The impact would be that costs would drop and the quota would be increased.
III. Why are the quotas set at 11 GB and 20 GB respectively?
- Each user's $1465 basic services fee supports the basic infrastructure and services required to currently provide 11 GB of network disk space per user. Because 90% of our users do not occupy their full 11 GB, there is enough remaining capacity to permit allocation of 20GB to each of the 60+ current group work spaces.
IV. May I see some disk usage statistics? (As of June 2004)
- Total User Home Directory Disk Space in Use: 1,746 gigabytes (1.75 TB)
- Number of Users: 569
- 39 users (7% of the users) are over a 10 MB quota
- The 39 users over 10 MB use 1,000 GB, 57% of the user home directory space.
- Total Group Disk Space in Use: 1,705 gigabytes (1.7 TB)
- Number of Groups: 63
- 13 groups (20% of the current groups) are over a 20 GB quota
- The 13 over 20 GB use 1,500 GB, 87% of the group space.
V. Why private servers?
- Restrictions on grant funding may dictate private server purchases for some groups. However, this private disk space comes with additional costs -- standard $500 annual machine fee (network access and server patches, maintenance, and administration) plus $100 to cover costs of backing up an additional machine (client license, annual backup software and hardware maintenance).