Subject: Re: [nfsv4] Global namespace for v4.1?

From: Jim Rees <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 12:41:11 -0500

Can we please refrain from using v3 terms like "automounter" and "map?"  I
don't know what these mean.

I do think an examination of afs will help here.  I'll make a few
observations.

Afs has a global name space.  The same path works on any afs client (if it
has a unix-like name space).  I agree with Nico that we can't force clients
to use "/nfs4" (or whatever) as the global prefix, but I do think we should
strongly recommend something.  Otherwise "global" paths will be different on
different clients.  Based on my afs experience I claim that would be a bad
thing.

Afs traditionally has the root of the global name space in two places, one a
static file on the client, the other a set of mount points on the server.
These have to be in sync for things to work.  This is obviously bad and we
should not do this.  Afs is currently being re-worked so that dns (via the
afsdb record) is the root of the name space, and is visible in /afs via
magic in the vfs.

I don't know if we should use dns, ldap, or something else, but we do need
to all agree on the same global root directory if we are going to implement
a global name space.  Having each domain keep its own set of referrels to
all the other domains, if that's the only mechanism, is bound to fail.

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From: Julian Satran <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 00:48:06 -0800

> all the other domains, if that's the only mechanism, is bound to fail.

I strongly agree on both points.