We've made some changes to the way the quota system works, to reflect the changing way the Internet is used at Rhodes. These changes are largely cosmetic, and change the way the quota "categories" and the resulting warning emails work. They're intended to help you better understand how the system affects you.

A new category, "quota warning", has been introduced. You'll go into this category when you reach about 80% of the current Internet quota. This means that the first per-user quota warning email will normally be sent before you go over quota, giving you some advanced warning that you're about to exceed your quota. If you curb your usage when you go into the quota warning category, you'll avoid going over quota and having your Internet access slowed or cut off.

The "slight delay" and "significant delay" categories have been merged into a single category, now named "over quota" to more accurately reflect the fact that it's intended to be a grace period rather than part of your quota. When in the "over quota" category (i.e. between 100%-119% of your quota), your Internet access will be noticeably slowed to remind you that you should curb your usage.

The "web access denied" category now kicks when you exceed your quota by about 120%. (It used to happen at 130% [per-user] or 140% [per-host].) This means that the grace period, which was being abused, has been shortened somewhat.

More information on the quota system is available at http://www.ru.ac.za/quota/.