FAQ Space Issues?

Does your server space look like this?

Many time I get calls from people saying that the "S drive was full", and they could not save anything there.  I replied: "The S drive is not full--You are full"!  I did not mean they were full of you know what...but meant that the amount of space assigned to their individual user account is full.

The Department of Technology assigns the amount of space an individual can take up on the server based on district wide policies.  For example, students are allowed to save up to 100 MB of files, teachers-- 300 MB, Lead Secretaries, administrators & Tech facilitators--1 Giga byte. 

The amount of space you take up is determined by login.  So if you login to your computer and save a large file to the server (for example a Learn 360 video that might be 30 MB) that amount of space gets deducted from your user name's allotted total of 300 MB.  So with one save of a video you are using ~10% of your allocated server space!  Another important thing to remember is that the amount of your allotted space gets deducted whether you save it to your H drive (the drive with  your user name on it) or the Staff Shared drive.  Even though you are being nice and saving it for others, it still counts against your individual account!

That is why I suggest people save large files (such as music, pictures or videos) to the K drive/Archives folder.  The Archives folder is a special place on the K drive that students DO NOT have Access to--which is important because the K drive is not backed up on a daily basis like the other drives (S & H), and saving to the K Drive does not count against your allotted space!  Woo Hoo!  The K drive also gives users full rights, so it is "vulnerable" in the sense that other people could accidentally delete your files (in the case of the archives folder other teachers could delete your files, but not students).  That's why it is always "safer" to save backups of important files or folders to at least 1 other location.

Where might you save backups ?  Your local hard drive on your computer (the C drive) is a fine place to save.  You might make a folder on your C drive (right click over the C drive and choose new and folder) and perhaps call it something like DOWNS FILES.  This is a better place to save than say your desktop which on occasion may get "swept" by the school district, and might cause you to loose everything saved there.  So,  the C drive is a good backup place, however the C drive is "vulnerable" too.  If your computer ever crashes or needs re-imaged because of a virus, then those local files would be lost.  Another place to save backup files would be a large flash drive--realizing that they too can be lost or damaged in transit.  Finally consider backing up most of your really important files to google docs.  Those files are saved on google servers and can be accessed anytime (assuming you have Internet access) and from any computer with Internet access :)

Also,  sometimes there is confusion between the amount of space you can take up on the server (Your H drive and S Drive) and the amount of space you have on your E-mail account.  At this time, email only allows 100 MB, (your H drive allows 300 MB) but they are separate allotments.  So, just because your e-mail account is giving you warning messages about being full, does not mean your local "server" space is filled as well.

So,  getting back to the teachers whose "S drives" were "full" message, what should they do?  CLEAN UP,  but before you do,  MAKE BACKUPS  as discussed earlier.

HOW TO CLEAN UP?
You might try organizing your files on your H Drive "by size" to see which ones are taking up the most space.  For example, if you right click on your main server drive and choose "ARRANGE BY" and choose SIZE, the largest files will be at the end of your list.  If you don't need those files, delete them first since they will "free up" the most space.  To delete files. simply click on them and either right click on choose delete or hit the delete button on your keyboard.  You can select multiple files at one time, by holding down your CNTL key and randomly clicking on several files.  Holding down the Shift key allows you to select a "range" of files  (everything between your first click and your next click.

With your email, if you go to your "all documents" view, then click at the top where it says "size" you will sort all your email by size.  It will show the largest emails (most likely with attachments) at the top.  Delete those first to "get the most bang for your buck" in deleting.  Don't forget that your percent full message will not change until the next time the district "compacts" your file--which ordinarily takes place ~  only once per week.  Also, keep in mind that when you are in "all documents" view that any item you delete completely deletes it from your mail file including those saved in folders.  Email saved in folders does count against your alotted space :(


Happy Deleting!!