9.7 Using NSS Quotas on DST Shadow Volume Pairs

DST supports using volume, directory, and user quotas features of NSS volumes. However, DST does not have a unified quota system for the two volumes that manages quotas for the combined primary and secondary volumes in a shadow volume pair.

9.7.1 NSS Volume Quotas

Volume quotas specify how big a volume can grow within a NSS pool. You can set a volume quota on the primary volume, secondary volume, or both volumes in the shadow volume pair. Each quota is enforced independently of the other. For information about setting the volume quota by using NSS tools, see Managing NSS Volume Quotas in the OES 11 SP3: NSS File System Administration Guide for Linux.

Users of the shadow volume pair can map drives only to the primary volume. They are not aware of the existence of the secondary volume. Users see only the volume quota status for the primary volume. The volume quota information is not presented with a total space usage across both volumes. Users can actually store up to the quota amount set on each of the volumes, where each limit is enforced separately.

When the user has data stored on both the primary and secondary volume, the user sees the amount of space used only on the primary volume, which does not accurately reflect the total of space used on the two volumes.

The administrator can check the combined space available on the shadow volume pair and on each volume separately by using Novell Remote Manager for Linux.

9.7.2 NSS Directory Quotas

An NSS directory quota limits the amount of space on a volume that can be consumed by all of the files and folders in that directory. Before you can set directory quotas, you must enable the volume’s Directory Quotas attribute. As the administrator, you can view and configure directory quotas with the Files and Folders plug-in for Novell iManager. You can also use the Novell Client.

For information about setting a directory quota, see the following sections in the OES 11 SP3: NSS File System Administration Guide for Linux:

For a DST volume, you can set a directory quota only on the primary volume. When a secondary volume is in a shadow volume pair, the NSS volume is not bound to NCP and is not available for direct access by the NCP clients or the Files and Folders plug-in in iManager. The directory quota that you add, modify, or remove on the primary volume’s instance of the directory is enforced only for the space consumed on the primary volume; it has no effect on the directory instance on the secondary volume.

The users can store up to the directory quota amount for the directory on the primary volume, and an unlimited amount up to the maximum volume size on the secondary volume.

Users see only the directory quota status for the primary volume. The directory quota information is not presented with a total for the directory across both volumes.

9.7.3 NSS User Quotas

User quotas are set on specific user names and specify how much data a user can store on a specific volume. Before you can set user quotas, you must enable the volume’s User Quotas attribute. Configure the attribute on each volume in the shadow pair to enforce quotas on each volume. As the administrator, you can view and configure user quotas with the Storage plug-in for Novell iManager. For information, see Managing User Space Quotas in the OES 11 SP3: NSS File System Administration Guide for Linux.

After the User Quotas attribute is enabled for a volume, NSS tracks file space usage for every user who owns one or more files on the volume. The usage is tracked even if the user has no quota assigned.

For a DST volume, both volumes are mounted in NSS. This allows you to set, modify, or remove a user quota for a user separately on the primary volume and the secondary volume. Quotas on each volume are enforced independently of the other. For example, if you remove a user quota on the primary volume, the user quota on the secondary volume is not automatically removed.

Users see only the user quota status for the primary volume. The user quota information is not presented with a total space usage across both volumes. Users can actually store up to the user quota amount set on each of the volumes, where each limit is enforced separately.