How Much Memory and Disk Space Will My Server Need?
Server Demands
The types of demands users are expected to place on the server are directly related in most cases to the role (or roles) the server is expected to be responsible for, which we covered in the previous slide. What your users will be accessing on the server and working with will determine how much memory and storage you can expect each user to need.
In terms of storage, disk quotas can be applied to track and control each individual user's disk space, helping to prevent the server from filling to capacity without warning. Quotas can also be applied on a per-user basis if some users have needs that necessitate additional storage space. As an example, if a file server has a limit of 250 MB per user but you find that some users need to exceed that limit, these users can be provided with higher limits (500 MB or 1 GB, for example).
The key is to set quotas that will allow you to accommodate your initial number of users and their needs while retaining enough unused storage space to accommodate user growth or evolving data storage needs. And as mentioned earlier, additional storage space and memory can be added to a server fairly easily and inexpensively in most cases without needing to replace the server.
On the memory side of the equation, additional memory will allow users to retrieve information from the server more quickly as well as run more server-based applications concurrently without seeing any performance degradation.
