[OpenAFS] Any real need for separate AFS cache harddisk partition?

[Steve Devine]

Marcus Watts wrote:
> avison48 <avison48@yahoo.co.uk> writes:
> ...
>   
>> So it is worth it to set up afscache partition? 
>> The default on all our other machines seems fine.
>> IMHO the less post-OS load tweaks, the better.
>>     
>
> It depends on how the machine is going to be used.  If you have things
> that create large log files in /var, then putting the afs cache to
> compete for the same space may result in an unhappy collision.  While
> it's true modern machines have a lot more disk space, they're also a
> lot faster at filling up /var with log files, not to mention people and
> applications are much better at using space for other purposes.  Try
> doing video editting, make a couple of dvd disk images, collect lots of
> audio files, or simply run some versions of eclipse, and watch disk
> space evaporate like snow in the tropics.
>
> Personally, I have many machines where I don't bother to make
> a separate afs cache, and don't care.  I have a few machines where I
> wish I had, and one machine where I set it up and was happy I had.
> So I find that "light duty" server loads don't need this, while
> for "serious development and experimentation" a separate cache is
> very worthwhile.  Your experience may vary.  Obviously it's better
> to set this up when installing the OS rather than after the fact.
>
> 			-Marcus Watts
> _______________________________________________
> OpenAFS-info mailing list
> OpenAFS-info@openafs.org
> https://lists.openafs.org/mailman/listinfo/openafs-info
>   

There are times ( we have found ) where for troubleshooting reasons it
has been advantageous to clear out a cache partition and start over.
This is very easy when all you have to do is disable afs , umount the
partition and newfs it.
Other wise you are left with rm -r which take a lot longer and doesn't
seem as effective.
Also It nice to know that your afscache will never choke out your
filesystems.

-- 
Steve Devine
Storage Systems
Academic Computing & Network Services
Michigan State University

506 Computer Center
East Lansing, MI 48824-1042
1-517-432-7327

Baseball is ninety percent mental; the other half is physical.
- Yogi Berra