How can you monitor disk usage and prevent operations when space is low?

Question

Anubhav Kumar · Answer

To monitor disk usage and prevent operations when space is low in C#, you can periodically check available disk space using the
System.IO.DriveInfo class and implement conditional logic to pause or stop disk-intensive operations (like logging, file writes, etc.).
Step-by-Step Implementation
1. Check Available Disk Space
Use DriveInfo.AvailableFreeSpace to monitor available space.
using System;
using System.IO;
public static class DiskMonitor
{
    public static long GetAvailableDiskSpace(string driveLetter)
    {
        var drive = new DriveInfo(driveLetter);
        return drive.AvailableFreeSpace;
    }
    public static bool IsLowDiskSpace(string driveLetter, long minRequiredBytes)
    {
        return GetAvailableDiskSpace(driveLetter) andlt; minRequiredBytes;
    }
}
2. Use in Your Application Logic
Example: Skip a file write if disk space is low.
string drive = "C";
long minSpace = 500 * 1024 * 1024; // 500 MB
if (DiskMonitor.IsLowDiskSpace(drive, minSpace))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Warning: Low disk space. Operation skipped.");
}
else
{
    File.WriteAllText("data.txt", "Important data");
}
3. Periodic Monitoring with Timer or Background Task
Set up a background job to regularly check disk space and raise alerts or stop tasks.
using System.Threading;
var timer = new Timer(state =andgt;
{
    if (DiskMonitor.IsLowDiskSpace("C", 500 * 1024 * 1024))
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Low disk space warning.");
        // Optionally set a flag to prevent further writes
    }
}, null, TimeSpan.Zero, TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5));
Best Practices
Practice
Description
Use threshold (e.g., 500 MB, 1 GB)
Prevent operation if available space is below it
Use a config setting
Make thresholds configurable
Alert or log
Notify admin or write to event log
Graceful fallback
Disable or reduce I/O load if space is low
Use separate disk for logs or temp files
Isolate critical operations from full drives
Optional: Log Warning to Event Log
using System.Diagnostics;
EventLog.WriteEntry("Application", "Disk space is low on drive C:", EventLogEntryType.Warning);

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How can you monitor disk usage and prevent operations when space is low?

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1 Answers

Step-by-Step Implementation

1. Check Available Disk Space

2. Use in Your Application Logic

3. Periodic Monitoring with Timer or Background Task

Best Practices

Optional: Log Warning to Event Log

Liked By

Practice	Description
Use threshold (e.g., 500 MB, 1 GB)	Prevent operation if available space is below it
Use a config setting	Make thresholds configurable
Alert or log	Notify admin or write to event log
Graceful fallback	Disable or reduce I/O load if space is low
Use separate disk for logs or temp files	Isolate critical operations from full drives