Distributed File System

In last blog we have seen some of the important concept of  file systems. Our main focus is on distributed files systems available.

There are number of distributed files systems are available in market some of mentioned in following list

Definition - Distributed File System (DFS)

A distributed file system (DFS) is a file system with data stored on a server. The data is accessed and processed as if it was stored on the local client machine. The DFS makes it convenient to share information and files among users on a network in a controlled and authorized way. The server allows the client users to share files and store data just like they are storing the information locally. However, the servers have full control over the data and give access control to the clients.

Distributed file systems are also called network file systems. Many implementations have been made, they are location dependent and they have access control lists (ACLs), unless otherwise stated below.

• 9P, the Plan 9 from Bell Labs and Inferno distributed file system protocol. One implementation is v9fs. No ACLs.
• Amazon S3
• Andrew File System (AFS) is scalable and location independent, has a heavy client cache and uses Kerberos for authentication. Implementations include the original from IBM (earlier Transarc), Arla and OpenAFS.
• Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) from Apple Inc.. AFP may use Kerberos authentication.
• DCE Distributed File System (DCE/DFS) from IBM (earlier Transarc) is similar to AFS and focus on full POSIX file system semantics and high availability. Available for AIX and Solaris under a proprietary software license.
• File Access Listener (FAL) is an implementation of the Data Access Protocol (DAP) which is part of the DECnet suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation.
• Microsoft Office Groove shared workspace, used for DoHyki
• Netware Control Protocol (NCP) from Novell is used in networks based on NetWare.
• Network File System (NFS) originally from Sun Microsystems is the standard in UNIX-based networks. NFS may use Kerberos authentication and a client cache. (4.1 only)
• OS4000 Linked-OS provides distributed filesystem across OS4000 systems.
• Secure File System (SFS)
• Self-certifying File System (SFS), a global network file system designed to securely allow access to file systems across separate administrative domains.
• Server Message Block (SMB) originally from IBM (but the most common version is modified heavily by Microsoft) is the standard in Windows-based networks. SMB is also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS). SMB may use Kerberos authentication.

 In next session we start actual Hadoop.