R: Proposal: quota limit on backup clients and groupware
2003-04-17 16:48:06
> -----Messaggio originale-----
> Da: Mitch Collinsworth [mailto:mitch AT ccmr.cornell DOT edu]
> Inviato: giovedì 17 aprile 2003 18.30
> A: Stefano Coletta
> Cc: amanda-users AT amanda DOT org
> Oggetto: Re: Proposal: quota limit on backup clients and groupware
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 17 Apr 2003, Stefano Coletta wrote:
>
> > In my case the customer is supposed to pay for a "tape
> quota"... for
> > example, 1Gb space for 3 installations. I need a mechanism
> to control
> > if the overall storage of customers' servers are
> hitting/exceeding the
> > quota they have paid.
> >
> > The 2 goals to achieve are:
> > 1) to be informed about overflows in relation to every purchased
> > customer quota and even to notify the customer
> > 2) to effectively deny the backup if the client has
> exceeded his quota
>
> Interesting. I am looking at offering amanda backups on a
> billing basis, too. My model is not yet decided upon, but I
> was thinking of something simpler. Something along the lines
> of a fixed $x/GB billing rate without any quota or
> possibility of denying a backup. That seems fairly easy to
> implement just by post-processing the logs or e-mail reports.
> Can I ask why you've ruled out doing it this way? Is it so
> the customer can have a predictable bill without unexpected surprises?
Yes, that's the point. People does not like surprises of extra bills, worst
if in an automated way! Your idea of pay per use/space is straight and easy
but for a company the variable costs are risky and do not contribute to
build a well-known business plan. But this is my personal opinion.
> The thought of denying a backup worries me. If the
> customer's machine implodes and when they come for their
> backup data to rebuild the machine they hear "Sorry, your
> backup never happened because you were over quota", I'm just
> imagining that this would make them far more pissed than
> getting an unexpectedly large bill and having to tell their
> staff to take it easy on the disk usage.
In fact the backups are not stopped immediately but after a "warning period"
(see other emails I posted to the list) so that the customer can comfortably
choose to:
1) Reduce their data
2) Extend the quota
> It's your business and certainly your call what model to use.
> I'm just curious what led you to this model, mainly because
> of my interest in offering a similar service to my customers.
I hope to have been clear on my explanation.
Thank you for being interested in.
Stefano Coletta
creator AT mindcreations DOT com
http://www.mindcreations.com
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