Disconnected Operation in a Distributed File System

Download or read book Disconnected Operation in a Distributed File System written by James J. Kistler and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1995-12-13 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is based on the author's PhD thesis which was selected during the 1993 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Competition as one of the three best submissions. The focus of this work is on the issue of availability in distributed file systems. It presents the important new technique called disconnected operation, in which clients mask failures and voluntary network detachments by emulating the functionality of servers where actual server-oriented solutions are inadequate. This permits client operation even under complete isolation from the server; the clean integration of mobile computers into the system is an important side-effect of the new technique. The design and implementation of disconnected file service in a working system, the Coda file system, is described in detail.