Re: NFS tries following remote symlinks as if local!
On Tue, 2001-11-20 at 16:46, Adam Warner wrote:
> I've now just found that current NFS implementations are specially
> designed to NOT cross mount points:
>
> http://playground.sun.com/pub/nfsv4/nfsv4-wg-archive/1996/0004.html
>
> The NFS protocol is specified to not let a NFS client cross
> mount points. This is so the NFS client does not get confused
> about the identity of files in the even[t] two files on two
> different server file systems share the same file id (inode #).
>
> Which is a PITA, meaning I will will have to reproduce all the mount
> points on the client computer if I implement NFS. It appears my
> perspective fits into this category:
>
> This semantic is not desired by some clients, such as PC desktops.
> The proposal, as described previously, is to make
> mount point crossing optional.
There is an introduction to Coda that covers these issues. It looks
promising:
http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu/ljpaper/lj.html
"Why is a single mount point advantageous? It means that all clients can
be configured identically, and users will always see the same file tree.
For large installations this is essential. With NFS, the client needs an
up to date list of servers and their exported directories in /etc/fstab,
while in Coda a client merely needs to know where to find the Coda root
directory /coda. When new servers or shares are added the client will
discover these automatically somewhere in the /coda tree."
Nice. It's great to understand first hand why such a system might be
advantageous.
Regards,
Adam
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