In February 2021, Google announced the renaming of G Suite for Education to Google Workspace for Education. The most notable change affecting UC San Diego faculty and staff is unlimited storage will no longer be offered in Google Workspace.
Faculty & Staff Storage Quotas
UC San Diego is shifting towards a managed storage model. The initial step involves implementing storage quotas on accounts. The project team conducted a comprehensive evaluation of Google storage usage across campus. Based on the diverse utilization patterns by individuals and departments, the team collaborated with stakeholders to arrive at storage quotas that optimize flexibility and allocate resources effectively.
The primary objectives of the quotas are:
- Ensure economical use of storage resources
- Affect as few faculty, students, and staff as possible
- Foster fairness and equity in resource allocation
- Allow for adequate storage to accommodate future campus growth
Quotas were implemented for all existing faculty and staff accounts on June 6, 2023. These quotas were designed based on current usage patterns to minimize any disruption. Quotas will be enforced for accounts that are currently over quota on March 12, 2024.
Table of storage use and quotas
| Current Usage |
Storage Quota |
| 0GB - 0.8GB |
2 GB |
| 0.9GB - 100GB |
100GB |
Based on the current usage analysis, a minimal percentage of users (0.8%) with substantial data volumes will be impacted. Outreach efforts are underway with these account holders. Divisional IT and IT Services are working together to determine the most suitable solution for each situation, which could involve removing non-essential data or relocating it to alternate storage services.
Next Steps
- Use the Google Storage Manager to view your current storage.
- Scan for and delete large or duplicate files you may no longer need.
If you have questions or want guidance, we are here to help.
Contact the Service Desk and we will assist.
Shared Drives
IT Services and divisional IT groups developed a system for managing the Google Shared Drive environment and determined that default Shared Drive quotas are 1 GB. Additional storage can be purchased by following this Storage Purchase Process.
Google Workspace Storage Purchase Options
Please visit our Storage Purchase Process page to submit a Service Desk request to purchase additional storage for your faculty or staff account, or for your Shared Drive.
If you are a UC San Diego researcher with questions about alternative storage options, you canContact the Service Desk, Research IT Services (research-it@ucsd.edu or https://research-it.ucsd.edu), or your local/divisional IT office or team for information and guidance about research data storage. As one example solution, Research IT partners with SDSC on a USS brokering program where researchers can purchase USS in 25TB sub-allocations.
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What is pooled storage and what counts towards the limit?
Pooled storage is a single allocation shared across all of UC San Diego. Affected content includes all files and other items in Workspace services such as Google Drive (My Drive and Shared Drives), Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Google Photos, etc.
How much storage is UC San Diego allotted in the new model?
UC San Diego is currently using over 8PB of storage. Under the new agreement, this must be reduced to below 1.3PB before July 1, 2024. This is obviously a MASSIVE undertaking. The only good news about this is that the vast majority of the storage is being consumed by a very small number of customers on the campus. We are working with these customers on remediation.
What does this change mean for me?
IT Services and our campus IT partners are working directly with units that make significant use of Google Workspace to evaluate how they may be impacted by the new storage limits and develop specific plans, as appropriate. Divisional IT support began reaching out Q4 2022 to understand possible impacts and a path forward as needed.
If you are using Google Workspace, particularly Google Drive, in one of the following ways, there may be an impact:
- Housing large volumes of research data
- Archiving substantial quantities of video or image files
- Storing backup data from local systems
How do I check my current storage?
To check your current usage:
- Login to Google Drive with your UC San Diego credentials
- On the left side panel, click “Storage”
- Your total used storage is displayed along side with a breakdown of files stored in Google Drive, Gmail, and Photos
I’m approaching my storage quota and need assistance cleaning up my account.
Please reach out to your divisional IT support team. If you need additional assistance, please contact the ITS Service Desk.
What happens if I go over my quota?
If you are over the storage quota at the deadline, your account will be "read-only". You will not be able to add or edit files until data is deleted or moved out of MyDrive.
I have storage needs that are larger than what has been provided in my Google account. Are there other storage options available at UC San Diego?
Yes, there are both local and cloud-based resources suitable to support a variety of storage and collaboration needs. First, reach out to your divisional IT support resources. They will be able to advise you on use scenarios that match your needs and provide additional support.
My department can't help me, is there another team that can provide some consulting assistance?
If you are a UC San Diego researcher with questions about alternative storage options, you can contact the ServiceDesk (servicedesk@ucsd.edu), Research IT Services (research-it@ucsd.edu or https://research-it.ucsd.edu), or your local/divisional IT office or team for information and guidance about research data storage. As one example solution, Research IT partners with SDSC on a USS brokering program where researchers can purchase USS in 25TB sub-allocations.
The ITS Messaging and Collaboration Team can also provide consultation and assistance.
Can I buy more storage?
Departments/divisions/units can purchase additional 10TB blocks of storage, for either individual user accounts or Shared Drives, at an annual rate of $1440.00. Visit our additional storage page for detailed information about options within and external to Google Workspace.
How is additional Google storage distributed?
Additional Google storage allocations are made in 10 TB blocks and applied to either an individual user account's Drive, or to a Shared Drive.
Individual User Drives
An individual user account's Google Drive can be allocated 10 TB of storage. However, this 10 TB cannot be distributed among multiple individual user account Drives.
Shared Drives
Storage can be assigned to several Shared Drives. However, it’s not feasible to divide the 10 TB between an individual user account Drive and a Shared Drive.
My department is a heavy user of Google. I’m concerned that this will impact my work.
IT Services and our campus IT partners worked directly with units that make significant use of Google Workspace to evaluate how they may be impacted by the new storage limits, and developed specific plans, as appropriate. Your Divisional IT support should have reached out to you to understand possible impacts and a path forward as needed.
My department doesn’t use Google very much. How does this impact me?
While Google Workspace is used heavily in various units on campus, if yours isn't currently one of these, the change to a managed storage model is unlikely to impact you at all. If your unit anticipates making use of Google Workspace in the future, the impact may still be negligible, but your planning should include consultation with Divisional IT support or the ITS Messaging and Collaboration Team.
My department is considering using Google more heavily in the future. Should we stop this?
Not at all. Google Workspace will remain a fully supported collaboration, communication, and storage service at UC San Diego. If you are considering a new or expanded use of the service, particularly one that involves a transition from another campus service, we encourage you to reach out to the
ITS Messaging and Collaboration Team for a consultation. They can assist you in reviewing your needs and options, and can even get you started on your migration.
Is UC San Diego committed to supporting a Google Workspace environment?
Yes! In December of 2021, UC San Diego signed a 7 year agreement with Google.
Why are these changes to Google being applied in phases?
Google has been very slow to release the management tools needed to analyze and manage the different aspects of the environment. This has made a phased approach necessary, as many of the needed management tools do not yet exist.
Will these quotas change over time?
We will review storage use and quota allocation annually. Any changes will be announced.
What are some best practices everyone can try that will help?
As the campus transitions to a managed storage model for Google Workspace, proactively deleting items you no longer need will help the university reclaim space in the finite storage pool shared among all campus users. This may also be an opportunity for you and your colleagues to revisit how you organize and curate shared data to most effectively meet your collaborative research, teaching, and administrative needs.
How are other universities managing this change?
The responses to the changes with Google are as varied as university environments. The common objective is to make sure that allotted space is aligned equitably in ways that minimize impact. The vast majority of UC San Diego customers are not heavy Google users. This means that we have been able to focus our available storage resources on the customers that really need it.