Merge pull request #318 from lexming/quota-faq

add FAQ about how to request an increase of quota

source/access/how_to_request_more_quota.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+.. _more quota:
+
+##################################
+How can I request more disk quota?
+##################################
+
+If the current quota limits of your :ref:`personal storage <data location>` or
+:ref:`Virtual Organization (VO) <virtual_organization>` are not large enough to
+carry out your research project, it might be possible to increase them. This
+option depends on data storage policies of the site managing your VSC account,
+VO or Tier-1 project as well as on current capacity of the storage system.
+
+Before requesting more storage, please check carefully the
+:ref:`current data usage of your VSC account <quota>` and identify which
+file system needs a larger quota.
+
+.. _more quota personal:
+
+Personal storage
+================
+
+The storage of personal VSC file systems (``VSC_HOME``, ``VSC_DATA`` and
+``VSC_SCRATCH``) are managed by your home institute. In case of doubt, please
+contact the corresponding :ref:`helpdesk <tech support VSC>` for your VSC
+account.
+
+VSC_HOME
+  The storage of your home directory is small on purpose. If you need more
+  storage, please switch to ``VSC_DATA``.
+
+VSC_DATA, VSC_SCRATCH
+  Policies on these file systems depend on your home institute:
+
+  * KU Leuven/Hasselt University: follow instructions in
+    `HPC Service Catalog <https://icts.kuleuven.be/sc/onderzoeksgegevens/HPC-storage>`_
+  * Ghent University: larger storage quotas are preferably provided through
+    :ref:`Virtual Organizations <more quota vo>`. If it is not possible for you
+    to join a VO, please contact [email protected] 
+  * University of Antwerp: contact [email protected] for further information
+  * Vrije Universiteit Brussel: larger storage quotas are preferably provided through
+    :ref:`Virtual Organizations <more quota vo>`. If it is not possible for you
+    to join a VO, please contact [email protected] 
+
+.. _more quota vo:
+
+Virtual Organizations
+=====================
+
+VSC_DATA_VO, VSC_SCRATCH_VO
+  The storage quotas of your :ref:`Virtual Organization (VO) <virtual_organization>`
+  are managed by the moderator of the VO, who is typically the leader of your
+  research group. The moderator can manage all quotas of the VO in the
+  `Edit VO <https://account.vscentrum.be/django/vo/edit>`_ tab of the VSC
+  account page.
+
+Requesting more storage space
+-----------------------------
+
+VO moderators can request additional quota for ``VSC_DATA_VO`` and ``VSC_SCRATCH_VO``:
+
+#. Go to the section **Request additional quota** in the
+   `Edit VO <https://account.vscentrum.be/django/vo/edit>`_ tab
+
+#. Fill in the amount of additional storage you want for ``VSC_DATA_VO``
+   (labelled ``VSC_DATA`` in this section) and/or ``VSC_SCRATCH_VO`` (labelled
+   ``VSC_SCRATCH_XXX`` in this section)
+
+#. Add a comment explaining why you need additional storage space
+
+#. Submit the request by clicking on the *Submit request* button
+
+#. Your request will be reviewed by the HPC administrators
+
+Setting per-member VO quota
+---------------------------
+
+VO moderators can tweak the share of the VO quota that each member can
+maximally use. By default, this is set to 50% of the total quota for each user.
+
+#. Go to the section **Request additional quota** in the
+   `Edit VO <https://account.vscentrum.be/django/vo/edit>`_ tab
+
+#. Adjust the share (%) of the available space available to each user
+
+#. Submit the request by clicking on the *Confirm* button
+
+#. The per-member VO quota will be updated in 30 minutes maximum
+
+.. note::
+
+   The sum of all user quotas in your VO can be above 100%. The share
+   for any user indicates what he/she can maximally use, but the actual limit
+   will then depend on the usage of the other members. The total storage quota
+   of the VO will always be respected.
+
+Tier-1 project
+==============
+
+The scratch storage of your project in tier-1 is managed by the institute
+hosting the tier-1 HPC infrastructure. Your project directory will have the
+quota granted to your project, which should be sufficient to complete all
+computational tasks in tier-1. If that is not the case, please contact the
+tier-1 helpdesk at [email protected].

source/access/managing_disk_usage.rst

@@ -1,22 +1,43 @@
 .. _disk usage:
 
+###############################
 How much disk space am I using?
-===============================
+###############################
 
 .. _quota:
 
 Total disk space used on file systems with quota
-------------------------------------------------
+================================================
 
 On file systems with quota enabled, you can check the amount of disk space that
 is available for you, and the amount of disk space that is in use by
 you.
 
-On most systems, ``myquota`` will show you for the ``$VSC_HOME``,
-``$VSC_DATA`` and ``$VSC_SCRATCH`` file systems either the
-percentage of the available disk space you are using, or the
-absolute amount. Users from Ghent university should check their disk usage
-using the `web application <https://account.vscentrum.be/>`_.
+VSC account page
+----------------
+
+Your VSC account page shows up-to-date information about your storage usage on
+each of the file systems accessible to your account. This information is
+available in the *Usage* section of the
+`View Account <https://account.vscentrum.be>`_ tab and includes:
+
+* total data size
+* current quota limit
+* percentage use
+* number of files used (*inodes*)
+
+You will find the usage data for your :ref:`personal storage <data location>`
+space such as ``VSC_HOME``, ``VSC_DATA`` and ``VSC_SCRATCH`` as well as your
+:ref:`Virtual Organization <virtual_organization>` if you are in one.
+
+Terminal in the cluster
+-----------------------
+
+On the system of most VSC clusters, ``myquota`` will show you for the
+``$VSC_HOME``, ``$VSC_DATA`` and ``$VSC_SCRATCH`` file systems either the
+percentage of the available disk space you are using, or the absolute amount.
+Users from Ghent university should check their disk usage using the `web
+application <https://account.vscentrum.be/>`_.
 
 If quota have been set on the number of files you can create on a file
 system, those are listed as well.

source/access/where_can_i_store_what_kind_of_data.rst

@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ open for the general quota warnings! The same holds for running jobs
 that need to write files: when you reach your hard quota, jobs will
 crash.
 
+If you reached the limit in any of your quotas, it might be possible to
+increase them if your need more space to carry out your research projects.
+Check :ref:`more quota` for more information.
+
 A few additional site-specific remarks concerning data storage can be found
 on the following pages:
 

source/faq.rst

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ General questions
 
    How can I contact user support? <user_support>
    how_do_i_acknowledge_the_vsc_in_publications
-   what_are_standard_terms_used_in_hpc.rst
+   what_are_standard_terms_used_in_hpc
 
 
 .. _access faqs:
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ Access to the infrastructure
 
    I messed up my authentication keys, what can I do? <access/messed_up_keys>
    access/where_can_i_store_what_kind_of_data
-   access/managing_disk_usage.rst
+   access/managing_disk_usage
+   access/how_to_request_more_quota
 
 
 .. _job faqs: