Towards a Distributed File System
Walter F. Tichy, Zuwang Ruan · Purdue e-Pubs (Purdue University System) · 1984
This paper describes IBIS, a distributed file system for a network. of UNIX machines.IBIS provides two levels of abstraction: file access transparency and file location transparency.File access transparency means that all files are accessed in the same way, regardless of whether they are remote or local.File location transparency hides the location of files in the network.IBIS provides a single, location transparent, hierarchical file system that spans several machines.IBIS exploits location transparency by replicating files and mi~rating them where they are needed.Replication and migration improve file system efficiency and fault tolerance.This paper reports on the design, implementation, and performance of the access transparency level, and descri:Jes the design of the location transparency level.