Tracking file storage space use

[Eric Shubert]

Alan Dayley wrote:
> I have a server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.  It's running very
> well but lately we have been running out of disk space on occasion.
> The truth is we need more storage and that solution is coming.  In the
> mean time, I need to figure out where all the space is being consumed.
> 
> Every once in a while I can see 3-5GB get consumed in about a day.
> Then, when I warn everyone we are running out, this space suddenly
> comes free.  I think a user is eating the space and then freeing it up
> when my warning goes out.  But none of the users will admit to this
> behavior.  That's not a big deal because, whether a user or not, I'd
> like to know what or who is eating this space and then releasing it.
> 
> The server is running SAMBA shares for /home and other directores,
> Bugzilla with MySQL on the database, TWiki, Subversion, CVS and ftp
> services.  Tracking each of these individually may be a bear.  I was
> thinking there may be a tool that tracks recent usage from the file
> system level.
> 
> What tools can I use to get a handle on this issue and increase my
> knowledge about disk usage?
> 
> Alan

I would think that a periodic find command could suffice. You could 
write a find command that would "find all of the files over 1 gig that 
were created in the last 24 hours", then put it in cron.daily/. You can 
tailor the find command to suit your situation.

-- 
-Eric 'shubes'