[OpenAFS] AFS shortcomings for read/write

[David Bear]

On Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 01:59:28PM -0400, Phil.Moore@morganstanley.com wrote:
> We've had performance and stability issues with readwrite data,
> however, and strategically we're migrating most readwrite data into
> NFS/CIFS.  Yeah, this comes at a huge loss in manageability and
> security, but life's a bunch of trade offs...  The bottom line is that
> AFS is suboptimal for readwrite data, and with the availability of
> MP-fast NFSv3 servers and clients, AFS just can't compete when raw
> performance is an issue.

This may be related to the overall desing of AFS -- focusing on
readonly or write-seldom type of file serving.

The ugly wart that hits me with AFS is the lack of file locking which
has been discussed many times before.  

I wonder if rather than changing the AFS server portion, we might look
at extending the AFS client piece to be an intelligent multi-client --
one that would serve both AFS and connect to NFS or CIFS (my
preference is SAMBA)

if the afs cache manager (client) peice could sort out what parts of
the name space existed in CIFS space, and then if Samba could be made
to use AFS tokens for authentication, that would be really cool...

-- 
David Bear
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College of Public Programs/ASU
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