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• Cleaning out disk space

Cleaning out disk space

Overview

To reduce the amount of disk space you're using, you can trash or compress the files in your account or transfer them to another storage medium. Since large email storage can also cause you to go over quota, transferring and storing can help you avoid problems.

Trash files

• Use Webmail to select and delete old emails you no longer need. Pay particular attention to emails that have large attachment files (pictures, embedded videos) as one large attachment can take the same amount of disk space as hundreds of plain text email files.


• Using a secure FTP program, you can access your Stanford UNIX account, select the files you don't want, and delete them. For more information about how to do this with a Mac or with Windows, click on the appropriate links on the File Transfer web site. Under each option, look for the section on "Deleting Files."


• You can trash files via UNIX. Logon to Stanford UNIX, either directly (if you have a workstation), or via telnet. After you've reached the command prompt, you can eliminate files you don't want by using the "rm" command. For more information about how to remove files or get around in UNIX, see the UNIX Command Summary document.

Transfer files

After you transfer files using the information below, don't forget to trash them from your Stanford UNIX account using the instructions above. In other words, transferring files does not delete them;

• Using the secure FTP protocol you can access your Stanford UNIX account, select the files you want to keep, and transfer them to your desktop. From there, you can move them to an external hard disk or other storage device. For more information about how to transfer files with a Mac or Windows computer, click the appropriate links on the File Transfer web site.


• To transfer files in UNIX you should know how to move files around in AFS and how to use FTP at the command line. If you encounter a problem with this process, submit a HelpSU ticket.

Reduce your email storage

Many people don't realize that the size of their email storage can count against their AFS quota. There has also been a rise in the number of "attachments" that people send via email. These attachments stay on the mail server if you have configured your email program to "Leave mail on server." If that is the case, every time you get a large attachment, it stays on your mail spool and doesn't go away unless you delete it. Mail spools often get very large if this is the case.

To reduce your email storage to a reasonable size, take a look at the Email storage space page.