RFC: High availability replicationraidlike filesystem 2542

Hi,

openafs looks interesting, cryptic documentation and a bit of a learning curve.

The only problem is the patching.

I'm sure it does

Check the above link.

My only immediate concern is Linux really, AFS supports alot of platforms... which is great.

FUSE only two platforms, Linux & FreeBSD.

Not all clients have these amounts of money, some can only afford basic Linux maintenance contracts with vendors, cannot afford NAS devices and need a simple and reliable way to replicate filesystems between locations.

Patching and fiddling with the kernel, compile options and parameters normally gives the vendor a reason to tell the client to bugger off as they in violations of their support contracts.

Not everyone has large amounts of money to throw at problems, my organization replaces commercial solutions with more open alternatives and training of personal in opensource solutions. :o)

I personally dislike commercial and proprietary products, I like providing alternatives ... not everyone wants only 1 choice and one option in life, the more the merrier .... sharing of code, different ideas, approaches ... etc.

While I've read through openafs and agree its a really good product and will more than likely meet most of the requirements I've noted above ... it still requires patching of a kernel to work, whether the patches apply and will work with the 100+ patches some vendors add, whether the patches will apply when a new kernel release is made, this I do not know, its just something else which can go wrong and can make upgrading a kernel or even installing AFS a bit harder. Hence, why I'm looking at a FUSE solution.

-Nigel