Quotas

Quotas that enable or restrict access govern each account. These quotas come in three types:

  • Computation (CPU and Memory)
  • Disk and File
  • Printing

Computational Quotas

Computational quota refers to the amount of CPU time and memory you are allowed to reserve on a UNIX/Linux system. 

A list of the available computational machines can be found here.

Disk Quotas

Current disk quotas are grouped by classification as follows:

Classification Size
Graduate Major 2 GB
Undergraduate Majors 1 GB
Non-Majors 500 MB
Faculty/Staff N/A

Every account holder has a certain amount of available disk space to use for files in their home directory.

Note: The disk space is solely for your course work and/or research purpose. Contact SSG if you need more disk space.

Print Quota

Current printing quotas are grouped by classification as follows:

Classification Credits
Graduate Major 1000
Undergraduate Majors 1000
Faculty/Staff N/A

The printing credits are used on the PaperCut system. If you use all of your credits, your account can go negative and you will be charged for how much you use. To view you current balance and see past jobs visit PaperCut and log in using you IASTATE username and password.

If you printed something using the printers in Pearson or Atanasoff and it did not print but still took away print credits, please email SSG at coms-ssg@iastate.edu.

Being Over Quota

If your account is over the block/file quota, then the only solution is to remove files from you home directory. The most common culprit is cache files left behind by web browsers (Firefox/Mozilla/Chrome). These are under the directories ~/.firefox, ~/.mozilla, and ~/.chrome, respectively. A useful tool for further investigation of your disk usage is the du command. Check out the man page of du for further information on this command.

If you feel that your current COMS course(s) require more disk space or files than you are currently allocate, please have your instructor request more on your behalf by having them send an email to coms-ssg@iastate.edu.