Re: linux-kernel-digest V1 #97
Corey Sweeney (corey@interaccess.com)
Mon, 26 Jun 1995 23:13:45 -0500 (CDT)
> From: tfries@umr.edu (Todd Fries)
> Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 07:35:12 -0500 (CDT)
> Subject: NFS and kernels ...while you're at it..
>
> > NFS has some strange requirements. Firstly due to brain damage in the
> > design you need very fast turn around of attributes and similar queries.
> > Secondly you have this bogoid ope4n by inode need.
> >
> > > occured to me. However, along with Linus's intention to make the
> > > buffer cache addressable by inode/offset, this change could make
> > > implementation of NFS and HFS much cleaner, with negligible impact on
> > > the other filesystems.
> >
> > I'm waiting for Linus on this very much - double/treble NFS speed is
> > easy once this change is made.
>
> While you guys are at rewriting nfs and restructuring a few things, I believe
> now would be an appropriate time to consider writing something along the lines of
> Sun's cache-fs .... for nfs or any 'network-based' filesystem, for that matter..
>
> Basically, when you mount an nfs point, you have a portion of the disk reserved for
> cache-fs, which 'caches' the nfs reads to the local hard drive. So if I compile
> a huge project on my cs account (which could be on any 1 of about 20 machines),
> the 1st time I compile/access each file, it is a standard nfs-read slow-speed..
>
> But after the 1st time, it is read off the local hard drive using the cache-fs..
>
> It is a sun-proprietary thing, but that doesn't stop us from taking the concept and
> implementing it, does it? I could probably get more details, or I'm sure some of you
> already know more details, but that's what I know to suggest at thist time..
>
> It's at least worth considering...along with a possible optional/standard kerberos
> type of authentication for nfs, also part of the sun-distributed nfs...
>
> - --
> Todd Fries...tfries@umr.edu
>
i agree, check out "benfs" (written by "ben" :), it's the basic idea, but
depending on implementation, it might be a example of what not to do :)
(i believe it's in the projects list)