[185] in Info-AFS_Redistribution
Re: Hard Link Problem
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bob Dew)
Tue Jul 2 13:15:01 1991
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1991 12:12:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bob Dew <rdew+@alw.nih.gov>
To: Info-AFS@transarc.com
In-Reply-To: <9106251506.AA14147@node-17e0f.boeing.com>
Excerpts from internet.info-afs: 25-Jun-91 Hard Link Problem Mike
Davis@node-19ac0.bo (528)
> We attempted to implement the USENET news distribution package,
> using a single shared news spool area between different sites and
> ran into the hard link problem. The C code contained "link" commands
> that AFS didn't like. We ended up replacing the link commands with
> a copy routine.
> -Mike Davis
> Boeing Defense and Space
The particular problem of implementing a USENET news distribution
on AFS can be handled by using C News, which is a reimplementation of
USENET's transport and storage news software known as B News, or B-2.11.
C News does not use hard links for filing news articles, as did its
B News predecessor, and so can be used safely for spooling news articles
into AFS and across file partitions.
Nntp (Network News Transport Protocol) can be used in concert with
C News to file news articles in a secure fashion from a network newsfeed
directly into AFS file space. A way of doing this is by defining an
AFS UID for "news", running nntpd as a PAG authenticated daemon with
news tokens, and pointing /usr/spool/news, via symbolic link, from the
news host's local disk to an AFS directory.
Storing NETNEWS on AFS provides the advantages of automatic backup,
newsgroup-to-volume mapping for ease of maintenance, greatly increased
storage capacity, and peace of mind knowing that a single disk crash may
no longer mean the end of the news world.
Bob Dew
National Instititutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
rdew@alw.nih.gov
