Re: Elastic Quota File System (EQFS)

[Fao, Sean]

> > A better option in this case is to reduce the default size of Mozilla's 
> > cache or expand the size of the quota for each user to deal with the added 
> > space requirements.
> >
> > If you are concerned about disk usage from caches, you can always create 
> > a script that removes the cache(s) when the user logs out.
> >    
>
> That's not the right thing.. that way you loose caching effects around
> logins even when there's plenty of space.
>
> There's quite a lot of data -- at least on my systems -- that can be
> removed with "only" loss of performance...
>
> 1) browser caches
>
> 2) package lists, downloaded packages
>
> 3) object files
>
> heck, if you know you have reliable network connection 4), you could
> even mark stuff like /usr/bin/mozilla elastic, and re-install it from
> the network when it is needed... Doing anything more complex than 1)
> requires extensive changes all around the kernel and userland, and
> you'd probably not call that system unix any more.
>  
All the suggested benefits listed above could easily be implemented in a 
script.  For instance, one could design a script that checks the amount 
of disk space at logout.  If the amount of disk space remaining is less 
than X (where X is value predefined by an administrator), the script 
could _suggest_ that corrective action be taken and allow the *user* to 
_decide_ what he/she wants to delete/move.

In a workstation environment, my honest opinion is that quota's are set 
entirely too low if you're running that close to your limit.  On a 
server, I do not see deleting files at the decision of the OS, to be 
beneficial.  Nor do I see any reason to develop the suggested FS to 
implement what should be taken care of by a knowledgeable administrator.

The idea of an elastic file system is interesting until you start 
considering how it would be implemented and what affects it would have 
in a production environment.

Sean
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