When someone sends you email, the message goes to a computer called a server. It stays there until you download it, which happens automatically when you check your email. The email quota is a set amount of disk space, to ensure that there is enough room for everyone's email on the server. The quota does not apply to messages that you have downloaded to your personal computer with programs such as Eudora or Microsoft Outlook. It applies only to messages that you have not already downloaded or email accessed with Pine.

On the campus email servers managed by Information Technology, there are two types of quotas: the "hard" quota and the "soft" quota. When you fill up your soft quota, you will get a warning by email, but your mail will not bounce, or be returned to the sender, for three weeks, or before you exceed your hard quota, whichever comes first. The size of your quota depends on which mail server you use.

• On mailbox: the soft quota is 1 MB and the hard quota is 10 MB.
• On servers named after colors (i.e., blue, green, scarlet, and yellow) the soft quota is 5 MB and the hard quota is 20 MB.

So, if you are on mailbox, and a friend or colleague emails you a 1.5 MB file, you will get the warning message, because that file will fill up your soft quota. But you can receive an additional 8.5 MB of messages before you fill up your hard quota. Downloading the large file (by using a program like Eudora) or deleting it (from Pine) will solve the quota problem.

The servers named after colors have more disk space per person than mailbox, which is older and is used by significantly more people. IT is slowly phasing out mailbox and assigning new users to color servers. If you are a mailbox user, you can request to be moved to a color server by calling 754-HELP, emailing ithelp@ucdavis.edu, or visiting IT Express in 182 Shields Library. If you do not know what server you are on, go to http://www.ucdavis.edu/cgi-bin/whois/. Put your own name in the search box and press Return or Enter. You'll find the name of your server next to the words: "Delivery Host."

According to Beau Patrette, the IT Express coordinator, the top three reasons that someone would go over quota are 1) receiving a message with a large attachment, 2) leaving mail on the server by not downloading it for a long period of time, and 3) going on vacation and letting your mailbox fill up. Each of these problems has a simple remedy.

If you receive a message with a large attachment, download it immediately (or delete it from Pine) which will remove it from the server.

If you think that you might be leaving mail on the server, check your settings in your email software. Make sure that you have not chosen to leave mail on the server. If that option is chosen, de-select it, and then check your mail as normal. You can find more specific information on this in the manual for your particular email program. Checking your mail after changing the settings will remove all old messages from the server.

If you went over quota while on vacation, download your messages when you return. (For more information on other ways to keep your email from going over quota when you are on vacation, see the story on page 5 about the Vacation Mail Setup Utility.)

Pine users can also go over quota without realizing it. If you are not familiar with File Transfer Protocol (FTP) programs, you might have this problem. When an email message with an attachment is viewed through Pine, the instructions read, "Cannot display this part. Press "V" then "S" to save in a file." Some people save the attachments to their files over and over, not knowing that FTP must be used to view the attachment locally. Even for Pine users familiar with FTP, messages sent with attachments can also add up. Check your sent mail and delete the large files. It is important to remember that deleting all your messages in Pine probably will not help. Individual messages (without attachments) take up very little space, and are not the cause of your quota problem.

FTP is not the only way to check your account. Patrette gives detailed instructions on how you can use telnet to check your quota in the "Unix Disk Quotas" QuickTip. This QuickTip can be found at http://itexpress.ucdavis.edu/quicktips/diskquota.html.

The simplest way to check how much of your disk space you are using is by pointing your Web browser to http://ism.ucdavis.edu/info/email/check-quota.html.

Autumn Bouck is a senior majoring in English and Spanish. She joined the IT Publications team in May.