How to Create a Quota on a Windows Server Share

Quotas are important to control how much storage space a user or group is allowed to have on a Windows server. Quotas can be added to a server using the following steps.

Part 1: Enabling the File Server Resource Manager Role

1. We must first enable the FSRM role on the server.
2. On the Windows server system you are wanting to use quotas on, open up Server Manager by clicking on the Windows start button on the bottom left hand corner, and start typing “Server Manager”.
3. From there, click on the link that reads “Add roles and features”
4. Continue through the wizard using the next button until you get to the window that lets you select the server roles on the system. “Select server roles”
5. Navigate to File and Storage Services > File and iSCSI Services > File Server Resource Manager and checkmark that feature.
6. Confirm that you would like to enable this feature and click on the “Add Features” button.
7. The next window will already have selected the features that you would like to enable on the system.
8. Confirm the installation by clicking on the “Install” button on the last window of the wizard.

Part 2: Configuring and Applying Quotas

Before we can apply a quota to a user or group, we must first create a quota template. To do this, complete the steps below.

1. Open up File Server Resource Manager and navigate to File Server Resource Manager > Quota Management > Quota Templates.
2. On the right hand column, click on “Create Quota Template…”
3. A Create Quota Template window will open in which you can configure your template. Enter your requirements in the fields and click on OK.
4. Now that we have created our Quota Template, we can create and apply a Quota.
5. Navigate to File Server Resource Manager > Quota Management > Quotas.
6. On the right hand column, click on “Create Quota…”
7. A Create Quota window will open in which you can configure your quota. Enter your requirements in the fields and select the quota template that you created earlier.
8. After you have entered and configured the quota to your liking, click on Create.

Part 3: Adding users or groups to a Quota directory

After we’ve created the directory with the quota, we can now go into that directory and share the directory with the users and groups that we want to share with. The users or users within groups will only be allowed to have the storage space that the quota allows.

1. Open a File Explorer window and navigate to the directory where the quota is configured.
2. Right click on the directory and select Properties.
3. Under the Sharing tab, click on the Share button and select the users or groups that you would like to share the directory with. If you click on the dropdown button and select the Find people… option, it will be easier to add users and groups to the share directory.
4. Next, click on the Advanced Sharing button under the Sharing tab and click on the Share this folder checkmark.
5. Create a name for the shared directory and configure the permissions of the users that have access to the directory by clicking on the Permissions button.
6. You are done configuring the directory with quota on your Windows Server system.