Quota Server 4.0B and Quota Manager 2.6.1

Administer disk space quotas with these tools

You are running Windows NT Server and some of your users insist on copyingthe contents of their notebook computer to your file server. Other users want todownload everything they see on the Web. Unfortunately, you're running out ofdisk space and NT doesn't let you limit how much disk space each user canoccupy.

Setting disk space quotas is an important management tool for systemsadministrators. Two vendors, Argent Software and New Technology PartnersSoftware, provide disk quota management software to help you set end user diskspace quotas.

Quota Server 4.0B
Argent wants its Quota Server disk quota software to be the choice forlarge, sophisticated enterprise computing systems. Quota Server comes in twoparts, a service that runs on Intel or Alpha-based Windows NT 3.5x and 4.0servers, and an End User Inquiry tool for client machines.

Argent has taken an approach that differs from its competition in twoareas: the fundamental interaction with the operating system, and theadministrative user interface. Each area brings advantages and disadvantages.Enhancements to the management side increase administrative power throughreporting tools and integration with Windows NT Explorer, but the quota trackingmethod is CPU intensive and can affect the performance of servers that set largenumbers of quotas.

Installation
Setup requires some preliminary preparation common to NT services. You mustcreate a user account, which the service uses to log on to the managed box.Setup also calls for creating a group that specifies which users will bepermitted to manage quotas.

The installer is InstallShield, and the actual installation process issmooth and easy. You do not need to reboot the server to use the product,although you must log off and back on to gain access.

Single-server licensing is fully automatic, but taking advantage of QuotaServer's more sophisticated options requires exchanging faxes with Argent's techsupport center. Argent makes this process easy by offering 24*7 free support--astrong draw for 24*7 shops and large multisite enterprises.

Configuring Quota ServerInstallation adds two options to NT Explorer's right-click menus (FileManager's menus in NT 3.5x): Quota Server and Add/Change Quota. Select an objectyou want to set a quota for in Explorer and right-click to view the options. Choosing the Quota Server option takes you to Quota Server's main window,which serves as a central monitoring point, as seen in Screen 1. Choosing theAdd/Change Quota option in the right-click menu takes you directly to the QuotaProperties dialog box for the selected object.

Quota Server is easy to configure initially, but it presents a steeplearning curve to the systems administrator who wants to fully leverage all itscapabilities. Quota Server offers three levels of response based on percentageof quota used, and it can notify users or administrators--or run executables--inresponse to any of the response levels.

Quota Server in Action
Quota Server can lock out users when an object grows too large. The productalso offers "soft locks" that you can set at one of the three responselevels in the configuration.

Quota Server provides four locking responses: pass--do nothing; lockdirectory--users cannot make new files, but existing files are unaffected; lockdirectory and close files--users cannot make new files or change unused files,but files in use are unaffected; and lock directory and files--place a hard lockon everything. You can combine pop-up messages, mail messages, and executablesin almost any arrangement to notify users about their status.

Quota Server is a sophisticated product with an enterprise orientation andan impressive array of functions. The program runs with NT 3.5x or 4.0, andrequires NTFS, FAT, or High-Performance File System (HPFS). Under FAT and HPFS,you can monitor but not lock objects because of the architecture of these filesystems.

Licensing and Support
Argent licenses the product on a per-server basis. The first license startsat $2000, with additional licenses priced on a sliding scale. The purchaseincludes a one-year maintenance contract.

Quota Manager 2.6.1
New Technology Partners (NTP) Software's Quota Manager is a simple,cost-effective way to get disk quotas--an essential extension to Windows NT inan enterprise computing environment. Quota Manager was the first product to fillthe NT disk quota gap. This latest version builds on the success of previousreleases with improved functionality and performance.

Quota Manager consists of three components: the Quota Manager Service,which runs on an NT 4.0 or 3.5x server and manages the storage you want toregulate; the Administration Client, shown in Screen 2, which sets quotas andruns on the server or a workstation; and the Inquiry Tool, which lets anynetworked Windows machine inspect the quotas for a logged-on user.

Setting Up
Installation is straightforward and takes about 10 minutes. You load eachcomponent separately, using its own installer. (You can easily remove QuotaManager by rerunning the installer programs.)

The utilities come in versions for Win32 platforms (NT and Windows 95),Unicode systems, and older 16-bit Windows clients. My only disappointment duringsetup was that the 16-bit installer cannot use long filenames. NTP Software saidit will correct this limitation in the next release of the product.

You must create a service account and a "lockout group" duringinstallation. Quota Manager uses this lockout group in one of its two methods toenforce quotas. This method, which was a function of the original version of theproduct, locks out users via group membership. The second, newer method offersfiner granularity than group membership because it actually affects the filesystem permissions on an object.

In Action
Quota Manager works by preventing managed users from increasing the size ofan object when the object exceeds its set quota. Quota Manager notifies usersand administrators by sending Windows networking messages or Messaging API(MAPI) email when the object exceeds 90 percent of the quota. You can changethis default value.

The Administration Client has a simple directory-tree interface andsupports right-click menus to make operations quick and easy. This componentdisplays quotas and their status graphically (with an icon-sized pie chart) andnumerically. The Inquiry Tool lets end users inspect their current quotas.

After you complete the configuration, operation is simple and trouble free.I found few surprises in the operating of Quota Manager--only a lack ofreporting tools, which you might expect in this sort of product.

Licensing and Support
NTP Software licenses the product on a simple $495 per-server basis. Thecompany offers free 30-day support counted from the first support incident.After this initial period, the company charges $150 per incident. From myexperience, I doubt you will need tech support, and the 30-day limit will coverany initial installation or configuration difficulties.