Quotas on Oak#

How Are Quotas Measured?#

Storage quotas on Oak are measured in two ways: Volume (TiB) and the number of files and folders stored (inodes). There is a fixed ratio of 1.5 Million inodes for every 10TiB of volume.

How do inode Quotas work?#

One way to think of this is like an elevator’s weight and occupancy limit. Weight is like the volume measurement, and occupancy is like inodes. If you put many smaller people into an elevator, you may not hit the weight limit, but you will hit the occupancy limit - it’s the same basic idea with inodes and volume. Many small files tend to lead to groups who hit inode quotas well before volume quotas. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, and it’s just a result of different data workflows creating unique constraints. When you hit an inode quota, there are a few actions that you can choose from:

• Purchase more Oak space to increase your quota.
• Use a tool like tar to pack many files into a single archive file.
  • Using tar helps to reduce inode counts and is helpful for groups that may not have the budget for quota increases, don't want to delete data, and don't need to immediately access older, disused directories that may have thousands or tens of thousands of small files.
  • You must have adequate volume available in your Oak quota to use this option. If you aren't sure of your quota utilization, check your Oak Dashboard.
• Delete unnecessary items to free up space.

Why do we use TiB?#

Common Practice for Cloud and HPC Service Providers#

Cloud storage providers and many groups in HPC have adopted TiB as the standard unit of measure for data storage. By using TiB, we’re aligned with these best practices but also providing you with more storage capacity for the same price. In fact, you’ll receive approximately 9.95% more storage with TiB compared to TB.

Benefits When Using Common Linux Tools#

This change also brings added convenience when using common Linux tools like df, du, and others, which often display disk usage in GiB/TiB by default. With our new TiB-based allocations, your storage measurements will more naturally align with what these tools report, reducing any potential confusion and making your storage management even easier.