Question:

Does Acronis Files Connect (formerly ExtremeZ-IP) support folder quotas such as those in Windows 2003 R2?

Answer:

Acronis Files Connect uses standard Windows APIs to determine available space - it is fully compatible with folder quotas. However, because of the way the Macintosh determines the available space on a volume, the quota can be quite confusing from the user standpoint. It is important to note that the quota should be applied to the folder that will be used as a share point (volume) rather than being applied to a sub-folder of this share point.

The examples below should clarify how quotas work when accessed from a Mac client.

The quota will work as expected in the following situation:
Acronis Files Connect Volume: C:\Home
User Home Directory: C:\Home\UserA
Quota folder: C:\Home
Quota limit 100 MB

If the Mac user logs into afp://server/Home/UserA they will see the remaining quota free space ~100 MB and will not be able to save more than 100MB to the server.

The quota will not work as expected in the following situation where a sub-folder of the volume has the quota applied to it:
EZ-IP Volume: C:\Home
Home Directory: C:\Home\UserA
Quota folder: C:\Home\UserA
Quota limit 100 MB

If the Mac user logs into afp://server/Home/UserA they will see the total remaining free space for the entire volume (Home) instead of the remaining free space that is applied to UserA's subfolder (where the quota is actually applied). Even though the quota for the subfolder is not visible, it will still be enforced and the user will not be able to save more than 100MB to this folder (UserA).

This can be very confusing to Mac users because they are seeing an inaccurate representation of how much space is left in their subfolder. It may appear as if there is enough room to save a file, but in actuality the save may fail because of the invisibly enforced subfolder quota.

Because this is a client issue, this behavior will be seen regardless of whether the server is accessed using Acronis Files Connect or SMB.