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swa22's avatar
swa22
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

Not sure how to interpret /users/get_space_usage output for team account

Hello, 

 

I get the following output from get_space_usage for a team account:

 

allocation =     {

        ".tag" = team;

        allocated = 9895604649984;

        used = 7346077264133;

        "user_within_team_space_allocated" = 0;

        "user_within_team_space_limit_type" =         {

            ".tag" = off;

        };

        "user_within_team_space_used_cached" = 379540969510;

    };

    used = 7234056173955;

}

 

My question is regarding the lower used = 7234056173955 number. It looks entirely irrelevant. Namely:

 

The allocation by team is allocated = 9895604649984

The usage by team as a whole is used = 7346077264133

The usage by the user within the team is user_within_team_space_used_cached = 379540969510

Therefore the space used by other team members is used - user_within_team_space_used_cached = 7346077264133 - 379540969510 = 6966536294623, correct?

 

Then what is the last  used = 7234056173955 ? What sense does it make? It doesn't match up with anything else in this output.

 

Please advise.

  • swa22's avatar
    swa22
    2 years ago

    I need to make a self correction. Turns out the user has given me a wrong input on the problem. After a deeper investigation it has turned out that all numbers in his account are adding up correctly. I apologize for the mistake!

  • Здравко's avatar
    Здравко
    Legendary | Level 20

    swa22 wrote:

    ...

    My question is regarding the lower used = 7234056173955 number. It looks entirely irrelevant. ...


    Hi swa22,

    That's the space the particular team member (most probably you) is using already. 😀 Doesn't it clear?

     


    swa22 wrote:

    ...

    The allocation by team is allocated = 9895604649984

    ...


    Correct.

     


    swa22 wrote:

    ...

    The usage by team as a whole is used = 7346077264133

    ...


    Exactly.

     


    swa22 wrote:

    ...

    The usage by the user within the team is user_within_team_space_used_cached = 379540969510

    ...


    No! It just informs you about current caching; nothing more. As already mentioned, the space, used by team member, is denoted by 'used'. 😉

     


    swa22 wrote:

    ...

    Therefore the space used by other team members is used - user_within_team_space_used_cached = 7346077264133 - 379540969510 = 6966536294623, correct?

    ...


    No. If you want to calculate other members caching, I don't think it's possible. 🤷 In such a case you have to enumerate all members and check current caching one by one. Of course the sum of all other caching won't exceed your calculation (rather it would be smaller; likely significantly smaller).

    About the space usage of other team members, it's simple - remove your used space from entire used space (i.e. 7346077264133-7234056173955 = 112021090178). 😉 Isn't it simple?

     

    PS: By the way, using more than 6.5TB out of 9TB (where near 6.6TB used)... (almost all space)... can get your colleges angry. 😀

    • swa22's avatar
      swa22
      Helpful | Level 6

      Thanks for the quick reply!

      However, now I'm even more confused.

      When I enumerate and calculate the total all files and folders of that user using /list_folder (and I DO use the 

      Dropbox-API-Path-Root and specify the user's root namespace ID) it's only like 0.7 TB, while according to you, the user is consuming around 6.6 TB.

      Where are the rest of files then?

       

      Regarding other users:

      In that case, the space usage of the other members of the team can be calculated like allocation.used - used, correct? In this case it would be 7346077264133 - 7234056173955 = 112021090178 (0.1 TB). Is this correct?

       

      Regarding the caching: I don't seem to understand what it even means. Would you please elaborate? Where the caching occurs and what for?

       

      Thanks!

      • Здравко's avatar
        Здравко
        Legendary | Level 20

        Hi again swa22,

        You didn't mention exact steps you have used to receive your result in OP. That can be source of different confusion types. Take in mind that the result is context sensitive! Context - the current user as assigned by 'Dropbox-API-Select-User' header. Different users can have different access and in this context different parts of the entire business account can be seen.

         


        swa22 wrote:

        ..., the user is consuming around 6.6 TB.

        ...


        No, the user, who's context is involved in the call of OP, uses ~6.5TB. 6.6TB is the space used by all members (including current user)! Take in mind that listing can show files/folders that engage other member' space (including admin owned). Did you use the same member context when you got to the information and when listed the content? 🤔... or maybe different member' contexts have been in use. 🧐😉


        swa22 wrote:

        ...

        Regarding other users:

        In that case, the space usage of the other members of the team can be calculated like allocation.used - used, correct? In this case it would be 7346077264133 - 7234056173955 = 112021090178 (0.1 TB). Is this correct?

        ...


        Yes.

         


        swa22 wrote:

        ...

        Regarding the caching: I don't seem to understand what it even means. Would you please elaborate? Where the caching occurs and what for?

        ...


        To be honest, I don't understand why is this information provided and what it would be useful for. Let's hope Dropbox staff can clarify it... Monday. In my opinion such an info is useful internally only (load balancing on Dropbox servers), but I may be wrong.

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