In Unix, when my quota is reported in blocks, how big is a block?
In most of today's Unix systems, blocks are defined for quotas so that 1,000 blocks is equivalent to roughly 1MB.
A block is usually defined as a group of bits transmitted as a unit. It can also be a string of records, words, or characters that are treated as a unit, perhaps for technical reasons. Blocks are commonly used in file transfers and storage allocation. In many cases, your quota is given in blocks.
Different computers may show your quota in different ways. Some systems tell you explicitly that your quota is measured in blocks:
% quota -v Your home directory on the NFS server resides on the /N/fs5 file system. Your disk quota is set to 10000 blocks. You currently have 378 files and are using 4991 blocks.Other systems show the quota in a different form that doesn't explicitly mention blocks:
% quota -v Disk quotas for dvader (uid 1234): Filesystem usage quota limit timeleft files quota limit timeleft /Users 3833 4000 4400 129 0 0In this example, the user has 3,833 blocks used out of 4,000 blocks allotted.
At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?
Last modified on August 22, 2008.
