Server

Storage quotas.

A quota is the most a storage location, a space, a group or one person can store. Every upload, transfer and copy must fit under every quota that applies to it. Without a quota, only the free space on the disk limits it.

The levels

From the top down, a file written into a space must fit under:

  1. The disk. The free space the storage reports. A bucket never reports it, and neither does a folder on a Windows server, so there only a quota limits it.
  2. The location quota. The total for everything in one storage location. Set it in Admin → Storage → Locations, under Edit.
  3. The space quota. The total for one space. On a personal space it is the total of all private folders in it together. Set it in Admin → Storage → Spaces, under Edit.
  4. The group's total. What all members of a group can store together.
  5. The person's limit. What one person can store.

A level with no quota is skipped. Administrators are not exempt. Lowering a quota below what is already stored deletes nothing: new writes are refused until enough is removed, and deleting or moving files out still works.

Private folders and shared spaces

A person's storage is counted in two parts, each with its own limit:

  • Private folders: everything in their own folder in every personal space, including files that arrived there outside Farwing.
  • Shared spaces: the files they put into shared spaces. A file belongs to the person who last uploaded or replaced it. Files that come in through a receive link belong to the link's owner.

Files with no owner count only toward their space, their location and the disk. That covers files copied straight onto the storage, and files written by hot folders, folder sync and event rules.

Group limits

In Admin → User management → Groups, open a group and choose Storage. For private folders and for shared spaces there are two fields:

  • Total for the group: what all members store together.
  • Most for one member: the limit for each member, unless the person has their own quota.

Someone in several groups counts against one of them for each part, so their bytes are only counted once:

  • For private folders, the group with the largest most for one member.
  • For a shared space, the same choice among the groups that give access to that space.
  • On a tie, the group with more room left in its total, then the oldest group.

When someone joins or leaves a group, or a group's access changes, what they already store moves to the group that now counts it. That group can be over its total straight away.

A person's own quota

In Admin → User management → People, choose Edit on an account. Private folders and shared spaces each have:

  • From groups: the group's most for one member. The page shows the amount and the group it comes from. Someone in no group with a limit has none.
  • No limit.
  • Custom: a size that replaces the group's limit for this person, higher or lower. The group's total still applies.

The people list shows what each person stores, and flags anyone at 90% of a limit or over it.

Effective limits and warnings

Saving a quota is never refused because it does not fit with another one. The page says instead, and shows the limit that really applies and what sets it, for example Effective limit 500 GB, capped by the location quota. You are warned when:

  • a space's quota is more than its location's quota;
  • the space quotas on one location add up to more than the location's quota (this also stays on the location until fixed);
  • the group's most for one member, times its members, adds up to more than the group's total;
  • a person's own quota is more than their group's total;
  • a quota is more than the disk can hold now.

What counts

  • Every file inside the folder, whoever put it there, including Farwing's hidden folders for files still arriving and files waiting to be removed.
  • Bytes still arriving count as soon as the upload starts, so two uploads that each fit alone cannot go over together.
  • The server's own data folder does not count: its database, staging area and previews.
  • On a bucket, unfinished multipart uploads and older versions of files are not counted. See Fast S3 storage.

Counting

Farwing keeps the totals up to date as files are written and deleted. To pick up changes made outside Farwing, it also counts each location again: when the server starts and a location has never been counted, once a day, as soon as a quota is set on a folder never counted, and when you choose Recount now in Admin → Storage → Locations. One location is counted at a time, in the background.

The Locations page shows how far a count has got, and when each location was last counted. Until a folder's first count finishes, its usage reads Counting… and its quotas do not refuse writes yet. The free space on the disk is always checked.

What people see

  • Files shows what is used and what is left in the space or folder you are in, and which limit is closest.
  • Home shows your private folders and your shared-space storage. Administrators also see every location and a list of everything at 90% or more.
  • At 90% of a limit the bar turns to a warning. Over the limit it says by how much.
  • An upload that will not fit is flagged before it starts. If it is refused, the message names the quota that is full, how much is needed and how much is left. See Files.
  • The command line and Farwing Desktop show the same message, and do not retry.
  • Someone sending through a receive link only sees that the link can't take more files right now. See Receive links.

Farwing docs · farwing.io