Quota is defined as “a share or proportional part of a total belonging to a particular person or group.” Depending on your perspective, file data quotas can elicit a positive or a negative connotation. For IT administrators, quotas are a valuable tool meant to control the growth of unstructured data (find out the 6 easy ways). But from a user perspective, file quotas can be perceived as an evil force meant to control their behavior.I’ll let you in on a secret. The best file data quotas balance the storage needs of administrators AND users; they offer flexibility to manage costs, while keeping relevant files accessible. Considering that storage is a shared resource and that up to 40% of stored files could be classified as junk, let’s take a look at the good and the “bad” of implementing file data quotas:
File Data Quotas
The Good:
File quotas empower users to manage their storage wisely by making them aware of their impact on the company network. Through automatic prompts and restrictions, users can learn to question the importance and relevance of the files they want to save before their data ever enters the shared network.
The “Bad”:
Having structure and visibility means storage is consumed efficiently. No vacation photos here!
The Good:
With the right quotas and file blocking policies, corporate business rules can be applied. This cleaner approach to file management means a lower storage volume and a better ROI on your storage system.
The “Bad”:
The many irrelevant files your employees saved in triplicate five years ago? Gone for good!
The Good:
When you implement good data storage policies and quotas, you gain an accurate benchmark of your current usage. The best storage systems analyze your storage trends automatically so that you can access and predict the storage you’ll need down the road.
The “Bad”:
The days of manually analyzing storage spreadsheets over late-night pizza deliveries? Now over!
In the end, file data quotas aren’t good or bad; they are simply an effective means of managing the capacity of your networked storage so that you have the space you need, when you need it. Let us show you how a well-managed data storage environment can benefit your organization by requesting a file data assessment today!
