[524] in Info-AFS_Redistribution
Re: some questions about using AFS to share core OS files
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Wallace Colyer)
Wed Jan 15 15:03:54 1992
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 13:28:38 -0500 (EST)
From: Wallace Colyer <wally+@andrew.cmu.edu>
To: Info-AFS@transarc.com, Stuart Bobb <sjb@hpfcrn.fc.hp.com>
Cc: sjb@hpfcrn.fc.hp.com
In-Reply-To: <9201151558.AA01831@hpfcrn.fc.hp.com>
We use AFS to store copied of major OS software as well as local and
contributed software. The smaller the disk of the remote workstation
the more that is kept on AFS. Recently, we have begun to purchase
larger disks so that more software can be placed on the local disk. We
feel that our workstations have become too dependent on AFS. We still
keep the more obscure parts of the operating system on AFS for even most
of our larger workstations. This is especially helpful with Ultrix
which is huge when you install the whole system.
We mix and match the OS tree with package and the local and contributed
trees using a locally developed environment management program called
depot. With depot we split each application into a collection which is
integrated into one common directory structure (/usr/local) and we can
choose which applications live on the local disk of a workstation and
which on AFS. This also servers are our main release control mechanism
because it allows custom environments to be setup in order to test
software.
Our use proves that it is possible to put the OS tree mainly in AFS, but
I would recommend identifying the most used parts and placing them on
the local disk. Things become much faster.
-Wallace
