[OpenAFS] Getting started with OpenAFS

[Jerry McAllister]

On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 03:07:40PM +0400, Mike Pliskin wrote:

> Dear Lars,
>=20
> Thanks a lot for the detailed response, let me see what I can do in terms=
 of partitions. Generally the task I am trying to solve is the following:
>  - there is a 100-gigabyte collection of large files (10 mb to 1 gb)
>  - there are several geographically distributed sites with people that ne=
ed access
>  - files are organized in folders, and there is a fairly good administrat=
ive separation on who needs which files - i.e. chances of people writing th=
e same file at once are pretty low
>  - speed is important as well as a way to access any file from anywhere (=
but ok to degrade speed if replicas aren't synced yet)
>=20
> So the question is - do you think OpenAFS is a right tool for this proble=
m?

Yes!

Your only 'problem' is having enough space to create a new volume in
AFS where you can copy all that stuff in the old non-AFS storage.
Once you have that stuff copied, you (and verified in some way) then
you can use that old space for another AFS volume.

////jerry =20

>=20
> Thanks,
>   Mike
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: openafs-info-admin@openafs.org [mailto:openafs-info-admin@openafs.o=
rg] On Behalf Of Lars Schimmer
> Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 2:41 PM
> Cc: openafs-info@openafs.org
> Subject: Re: [OpenAFS] Getting started with OpenAFS
>=20
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>=20
> Mike Pliskin wrote:
> > Dear all,
> >=20
> > First, let me state that I am a complete OpenAFS newbie. I???ve just st=
arted playing with it and found some obstacles I failed to resolve myself e=
ven after reading the docs ??? therefore asking for help here.
> >=20
> >  1.  which version to install? I need windows client support so I need =
1.5 - right? But it is not stable.. Or is it? And don't see any pre-built r=
pms for it, so compiling from sources?
>=20
> As the protocol is compatible with rather old versions, you can mix
> client and server versions.
> BUT as security and bandwidth wise you should use a 1.4.12 or newer
> server on your *nix machines.
> For a client use 1.5.74 on windows and 1.4.12 on *nix machines.
> If you want to test and feel lucky, try the dev builds of 1.5.x on *nix
> and report bugs/errors/...
>=20
> >  2.  tried to compile and it worked but it created a non-"mp" kernel mo=
dule while my kernel needs an mp one - how to fix that?
> >  3.  do I really need a new fresh partition to start with or I can re-u=
se an existing one and just make it available via afs?
> > Actually #3 is the most important so let me explain. I have a server al=
ready and willing to make a large repository available via afs. Attaching a=
 new hard drive or even changing partitions is hard for me as the servers i=
s remote for me and has plenty of data already. So is there any way to make=
 afs use just a folder somewhere? Any workarounds?
>=20
> You need to spend a partition exclusive for OpenAFS server. OpenAFS does
> have its onw structure of files in the server-partitions (but it is not
> influenced by "false" files in those partitions).
>=20
> Which ends up in: you need to copy your files into the OpenAFS space
> after you have created the server and volumes and the logic fs-tree
> structure.
> You COULD share the openAFS fileserver-partitions via NFS or else and
> save extra data in those partitions (which are left alone by the OpenAFS
> fileserver) but that includes horrible security issues and is absolute
> NOT a way to go.
>=20
> More important about a new setup are some limits,IMHO the most important
> for new users are:
> - -only 1 ReadWrite copy of a volume
> - -no more than 64k files in a directory
> - -replica only on manual/script interaction
> - -only whole file locking on server
> - -experimental disconnected-mode
>=20
> But those are all fields which are worked on.
>=20
>=20
> > Thanks a lot for the information in advance,
> >   Mike Pliskin
>=20
> MfG,
> Lars Schimmer
> - --
> - -------------------------------------------------------------
> TU Graz, Institut f=FCr ComputerGraphik & WissensVisualisierung
> Tel: +43 316 873-5405       E-Mail: l.schimmer@cgv.tugraz.at
> Fax: +43 316 873-5402       PGP-Key-ID: 0x4A9B1723
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>=20