[OpenAFS] afs directory

[Michael Norwick]

Rodney M Dyer wrote:

> At 05:25 PM 7/10/2005, you wrote:
>
>> To quote Guns and Roses, "I believe what we have here is a failure to 
>> communicate".  Okay,
>
>
> Ok first, that isn't a Guns and Roses quote, that line is from one of 
> the sweatiest movies ever made "Cool Hand Luke".  Rock on.
>
>> 1.  I don't do windows
>
>
> Good enough.  No problem.
>
>> 2.  I do have AFS clients and servers working both from RPM's and 
>> compiled.
>
>
> Great, you're ahead of the game then.
>
>> 3.  I do have kerberos authentication enabled, set-up and working by 
>> my lonesome self.
>
>
> Alright, even better.
>
>> 4.  Other rants about being a self-made man that you don't have time 
>> for.....
>
>
> We all have our axe's to grind.  :)
>
>> 5.  I have no issues with AFS itself, things are just fine.
>
>
> Working client...  check!
>
>> 6.  Rather than spend hours searching AFS archives WITHIN AFS, is 
>> there a more timely
>>     sequence of events I can perform to find files within the GREATER 
>> AFS filespace, i.e.
>>     AFS DIRECTORY/YELLOW PAGES/GOOGLE for AFS???
>
>
> No, there isn't.  What you are asking for is more like Apple or 
> Microsoft's new search engines, Spotlight, and WinFS respectively, 
> that keep databases of what is on your local hard disk so you can 
> perform a quick search.  There is no way to search AFS cells like 
> searching a local hard drive, other than to do a bute force search for 
> every file and directory.
>
>> 7.  If I have to ftp or google to find a file on some .edu server 
>> what the heck do I need AFS for???
>
>
> AFS is a network file system.  You use it to store files on the 
> network, as opposed to your local disk.  Once stored there, you can 
> retrieve the file later by remounting the same AFS cell and traversing 
> its subdirectories to the point where the file is at.  You need to 
> remember that path, just like you remember how to type in a web 
> address.  What makes AFS different than the web is that AFS can be 
> used directly by your OS applications when they need to open a file by 
> using any of the traditional "file open" OS API calls.  You don't have 
> to go "though" a web server to get to a file.  You can use "VI" to 
> edit a file right out of AFS.  You can't do that with the web.  There 
> are probably several thousands of terrabytes of on-line data stored in 
> AFS.
>
> People who run AFS cells do so because they need an enterprise wide 
> common location for infrastructure data.  AFS isn't an "archive" as 
> much as it is an active on-line "data repository".  The word "archive" 
> to me seems to imply "backup".  AFS "can" be used to backup user data, 
> but that isn't its primary purpose.  Understanding the difference 
> between what AFS is meant for and what the Web is meant for is 
> critical.  They are not the same beast and definitely serve different 
> functions.  Also remember that the web typically serves "public" data 
> verses AFS which is used to access an organizations internal private 
> data as well as public.
>
> Some people run web servers "on top" of AFS.  That means when you 
> fetch a web page with your web browser, the file is actually being 
> pulled out of AFS by the web server and sent to you.  Our site does that.
>
> I believe what you are looking for might be more akin to the old 
> "archie" UNIX utility for searching for files on a host.  Don't be so 
> quick to dismiss the need for AFS.  You are asking to do something 
> that AFS doesn't have a functional design for.  Apples are not oranges.
>
> Rodney
>
>
>
Thank you all for setting me straight.  I like both apples and oranges 
so I guess I'll have to roll my own!  Gopher ruled in my neck of the 
woods at one
time long ago.  It was a nice Sunday, you guys really need to get out 
more :)

Thanks,

Michael