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Distributed File Systems

This document summarizes key issues in distributed file systems. It discusses naming and transparency, remote file access, caching, and whether servers maintain state. It also provides an overview of Sun's Network File System (NFS) which uses mount points to make a global namespace local, relies on stateless servers, and defines remote procedure calls for file access across heterogeneous nodes.

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shahida18
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36 views

Distributed File Systems

This document summarizes key issues in distributed file systems. It discusses naming and transparency, remote file access, caching, and whether servers maintain state. It also provides an overview of Sun's Network File System (NFS) which uses mount points to make a global namespace local, relies on stateless servers, and defines remote procedure calls for file access across heterogeneous nodes.

Uploaded by

shahida18
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Distributed File Systems

This is the most common use of distributed systems General idea:


provide file system services (i.e., storage, access, structure, protection) on multiple machines, transparently (as on a single machine) allow sharing of multiple (heterogeneous) local file systems Distinction between file service (specification, interface) and file server (a process that implements part of the file service)

Distributed File Systems: Issues


Naming & transparency Remote file access Caching Server with state or without Replication

Naming & transparency


How are files named?
Naming strategies
Absolute Names (Windows NT) Mount Points (NFS) Global Name space (Andrew)

Do filenames reveal location? Do filenames change if file moves?

Remote file access


Can access files:
Remotely: returns results using RPC = remote service Transfer part of file, perform local access = caching

Caching
Caching issues:
Where & when are file blocks cached?
Local Disk Memory

When are modifications propagated back to remote file?


Write-through: write to remote disk Write-back: write only to cache

What happens when multiple clients cache same file?


Client-initiated consistency Server-initiated consistency

Case Study: Suns Network File System


NFS: standard for distributed UNIX file access
Designed to run on LANs

Nodes are both servers & clients Servers have no state Uses mount protocol to make global name local NFS defines set of RPC operations for remote file access: Does not rely on node homogeneity Heterogeneous nodes support NFS mount & remote access protocols using RPC Users may need to know different names depending upon which node they log on

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