CERN Accelerating science

Computer Space Management Policy

  Nicole Crémel, Miguel Marquina and Roger Woolnough IT/User Support

In order to get more disk space users should normally contact their group or space administrators (on UNIX central machines), or their divisional representative (on NICE) - as explained later in the section "User Space Contact-Persons". However, to help out people who have an urgent need and who do not know whom to contact (or cannot wait for them), users can contact the UCO Help Desk. We explain in this article the precise policy to be adopted by the UCO regarding space management requests.

Managing User Space at the Help Desk

The UCO Help Desk has recently been authorised to grant space for all Computing Groups on both the AFS and Mail Server services. As the UCO already had the possibility to grant user space on NICE (PCs), this completes the coverage of all major central services.

When the Help Desk receives a user request to give more space on a service, the staff on duty may:

• Grant a space extension but only within pre-established limits, which are:
  • Mail Server (MAILSERV): 1MB more of quota,
  • AFS (UNIX): 20MB more of quota,
  • NICE (PCs): 10MB more than the space currently occupied.
• Inform the user at the same time that this limitation is a temporary measure to help him/her out, while he/she negotiates a larger or more adequate space extension with his/her local space contact-person(s) (see next section).
• Provide the user with the names of the relevant local space contact-person(s) for future requests, and a way to find this information themselves (see next section).

Service-wise we remind all users that the contacts for space extension requests are:

• AFS: any "Space or Group Administrators" for the "service" "AFS" or "ALL SERVICES" can change the AFS quota in his group(s).
• MAILSERV: any "Group Administrators" can change a MAIL quota in his group(s) - irrespective of the service(s) for which he is administrator -.
• NICE (PCs): the "NICE Divisional Representatives" can change the NICE quota in their division.

• The "Space" and "Group Administrator" for a given user can easily be found through the "CERN Phone Book" at URL: http://consult.cern.ch/xwho
  Enter the "Family Name" of the user (e.g. "cremel"), press "Start_Search". Once a reply is received, first on the family name and next on the "code" for the group (e.g. "CP"). All the administrators for this group will then be displayed, divided in three categories: the "CounterSigners" (who are allowed to sign the "registration form"), the "GroupAdministrators" and the "SpaceAdministrators". A column is used to specify the name of the "service" involved.

• A more global view of all the "computer groups" with their respective "administrators" (link "Admins") is given in the "Overview of our computer groups" Web page, at URL:
  http://consult.cern.ch/xwho/help/group_overview
  

• The complete list of the "NICE Divisional Representatives" (for each CERN division) is given on the Web, at URL:
  http://nicewww.cern.ch/homepage/nicerepr.htm

Note: The "Group Administrators" are the same persons who can create computer accounts (or login). The command to be used for changing quota on the UNIX services (AFS or MAILSERV) is "xspaceadm". On NICE this command is located at the same place as "xuserreg" (used for account creation).

Background Strategy Guidelines

Our overall priority with interventions dealt with by the Help Desk is the simplification of rules and actions to be followed. Since the Help Desk can already - since sometime - extend in 10Mb chunks the NICE (PCs) space, the present statement extends this ability to the other two major central services, AFS and MAIL. The self-limitation in the amount of space granted is to avoid entering into conflict with each group's space policy.

The following is a reminder of the strategy behind the actions taken by the Help Desk, adapted to the space allocation:

• The UCO takes over all "straightforward" actions which do not require special arrangements. The "password changes" are one such, the small space extensions are another.
• The UCO should escalate all other "non-standard" requests to appropriate analysts, depending on the nature of the problem. For space management, and in case no space administrator is available for a user, the question will be addressed to the "User Registration" team (User.Registration@cern.ch). They will then decide whether the space requested should be either granted or passed on to the relevant contact for action/approval.