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Unlike for users on Disk Space Reservation plans, users on Summary Disk Usage plans can exceed the limit of disk
space allocated for all disk space consuming resources combined together. This document will tell you about:
- Summary disk usage
- Disk usage limit
- Summary disk usage cycle
- Changing summary disk usage limit
- Restricting summary disk usage limit
- Summary disk usage calculation:
- Configure Plans to Charge Users for Summary Disk Usage:
enabling summary disk usage for a certain plan
Summary Disk Usage
If you configure the system to charge end users for disk usage,
they will pay recurrent fee for each MB of total disk space reserved setting
Summary disk usage limit
(unless they decide to stay with free Summary disk MBs that they initially get on account registration)
plus usage or overlimit fee in case they exceed this limit.
Used disk space on different types of servers (web, mail, MySQL, Windows, etc.) is summarized every 24 hours
to make up Summary Disk Usage then shown to end users
in their Control Panels:
Disk Usage bar in the Control/Info area on the left below the traffic bar (No Menu skin)
or on the Quick Access page (Left Menu skin). Because of that, Summary Disk Usage
doesn't include the current day disk space consumption. Summary disk usage
is not differentiated by the platform (operating system).
Summary Disk Usage Limit
Initially, users are allocated some free disk space (not differenciated by types:
FTP, mail, DB) that they can use without being
charged. This makes up their Summary Disk Usage Limit.
If they go over this free amount, they are charged for
each MB of excess at the usage (overlimit) price, which is
usually quite high. Users can change their summary disk usage limit.
Summary Disk Usage Cycle
The disk usage cycle determines when users that have exceeded their summary disk usage limit
are chraged overlimit fee.
It lasts one month if not forced to close with a disk limit
change or other events. For example, if a customer signs up on
March 7 for a billing period of 6 months, and then changes disk
limit on March 21, the new starting date for the disk usage cycle
will then become the 21st of each month, except for September (the last billing period's month)
when disk usage cycle is interrupted with billing period closure.
Changing Summary Disk Usage Limit
If users have a lot of web/mail/etc content, they can raise their
summary disk usage limit.
When a user changes summary disk usage limit,
the current summary disk usage cycle closes, and the following calculations are performed:
1. Summary Disk Usage is recalculated (see Summary Disk Usage Calculation)
2. A new summary disk usage cylce is open.
3. Refund for remaining days of billing period is issued
(if users prepaid for summary disk usage limit at the begining of the current billing period).
4. Recurrent fee prorated to the remaining days of the billing period (not disk usage month) is charged
for new disk limit minus free units.
* Recurrent fee is non-refundable if the user fails to use it all up,
but is refunded for the unused days of billing period.
Prevent Users from Increasing Summary Disk Usage Limit
- In your admin control panel select Plans in the Info menu.
- Click Resource for the selected plan.
- Click Edit for the Summary Disk Usage resource.
- In the Max field, enter the maximum allowed Summary disk usage limit value (in MBs).
Charge Calculation for Summary Disk Usage
Every day all servers are scanned, and all actually
used disk space including free units is added up throughout the summary disk usage cylce,
then the cumulative amount is divided by the number of days elapsed
since the beginning of the current summary disk usage cycle, and the resulting
average is displayed in the end user's control panel. This accounts for
numerous questions why disk usage in end user's control panel is different
from the disk space actually occupied by user's files.
At the end of the summary disk usage cycle, the cumulative amount is divided by
the number of days, and if the resulting average exceeds summary disk usage limit
(prorated to the duration of the summary disk usage cylce if it is prematurely closed)
the customer is charged overlimit fees for the excess amount.
Example: You set free summary disk usage at 100 MB, monthly at $1 and extra at $2.
Also, you zero all quota prices. If the customer sets disk limit to 200 MB, he will
pay monthly recurrent fee for the ( 200MB - 100MB = ) 100MB of disk space.
Now imagine that on the first day of the billing month the user uploaded
several big files, and the used disk space became 210MB, and so it was
until the end of the billing month. At the end of the billing month, the
user will pay ( 10MB x $2 = ) $20 overlimit fee.
The next billing month, the customer uses 210 MB for 15 days, then
deletes several files, and stays with 190 MB for the second half of the
billing month. As the result, the prorated disk usage will equal
( (15days x 190MB + 15 days x 210MB) / 30days = ) 200MB, which stays
within the disk limit, so the customer is not charged the overlimit fee.
This table uses examples, starting with easy further to more difficult,
to explain how end customers are charged for summary disk usage.
| # |
Plan & Account Settings: |
Summary Disk Usage: |
System Behavior: |
| 1. |
Billing period = 1 month;
Free Summary Disk Usage = 10MB;
Recurrent = $2;
Usage = $4;
Disk Usage Limit = Free = 10MB
(Initially, disk usage limit always equals free units)
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User stays within Free units of 10MB.
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User pays nothing.
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| 2. |
Throughout the month, user occupies 15MB of disk space.
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User pays for ( 15MB - 10MB Disk Limit = ) 5MB overlimit.
The amount of charge is ( 5MB x $4 usage ) = $20.
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| 3. |
The fist 15 days of the month user stores 5MB of files.
On the 15th day, user uploads another 10MB of files.
The remaining 15 days, user stores 15MB of files.
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The used amount will be averaged to one month:
( ( 15days x 5MB + 15days x 15MB ) / 30days ) = 10MB.
The user has stayed within the disk limit and pays nothing.
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| 4. |
The fist 15 days of the month user stores 15MB of files.
On the 15th day, user changes disk space limit from 10MB
to 15MB.
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On the 15th day when the user changes the disk space limit,
the disk usage month closes, and the used amount is recalculated:
( ( 15days x 5MB overlimit ) / 30 days = ) = 2.5MB overlimit.
The overlimit fee is ( 2.5MB x $4 usage = ) $10.
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| 5. |
Same as in 1-4, but the user has previously changed
Disk Usage Limit to 15MB.
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Throughout the whole disk usage month, the user had 12MB of files.
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The user pays ( ( 15MB limit - 10MB Free ) x $2 recurrent = ) $10
at the beginning of the disk usage month.
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| 6. |
Throughout the whole disk usage month, the user had 17MB of files.
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The user pays ( ( 15MB limit - 10MB Free ) x $2 recurrent = ) $10
at the beginning of the disk usage month plus
( ( 17MB - 15MB limit ) x $4 overlimit = ) $8 at the end of the
disk usage month.
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| 7. |
Throughout the first 15 days of the month, user had 17MB of files.
On the 15th day of the month user changed disk quota from 15MB to 18MB.
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The user pays ( ( 15MB limit - 10MB Free ) x $2 recurrent = ) $10
at the beginning of the disk usage month. On the 15th day, the unused
recurrent fee for the remaining 15 days ($5) is refunded, i.e.
credited to account balance. The prorated overlimit disk usage for
the first 15 days is ( 15 days x ( 17MB - 15MB ) / 30 days = ) 1MB,
so the due amount at the end of the month would be
( 1MB x $4 overlimit = ) $4. This amount will be taken from the
account balance. As a result, the user won't be charged overlimit fee
on the 15th day, but will be charged recurrent fee for the subsequent
disk usage month.
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Configure Plans to Charge Users for Summary Disk Usage
Even if you charge your customers for summary disk usage, disk quota can't
be removed, because it's an obligatory system resource. Instead, you need to do
all of the following:
- set free units for Summary Disk Usage;
- set Summary Disk Usage prices;
- delete all Disk Space Quota prices to make sure that your users
aren't charged twice for the same disk space;
- enter some free megabytes of Disk Space Quota, so the system
doesn't keep end users from uploading their web content.
To enable Summary Disk Usage for a certain plan:
- Select Plans in the INFO menu.
- Click the name of the plan to start the Plan Edit wizard.
- Include Summary Disk Usage on the first step.
- On the subsequent steps, don't set prices for web, mail, and other disk
quotas unless you want to charge your customers twice, for disk quota
and disk usage. Instead, set prices for Summary Disk Usage.
- Log into each existing user account under this plan, go to
Account -> Quick Access and press the Add button
in the Summary Disk Usage section.
User Summary Disk Usage Doesn't Coincide with Actual User Home Directory Size
All files with the user's ID including those outside
user's home directory (e.g.Transfer, Referrer, Agent and Error logs
that are used for user site's statistics) are counted toward used disk space.
This accounts for
frequent differences between used disk space shown by the control
panel and the actual files in user home directory.
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