Issues in Transparent File Access

摘要

For a computer system attached to a network, the network provides connectivity tomany other systems whose file systems may be very different from the local file system. However, there is no standard way for an application to 'transparently' access files on several file systems whose access characteristics may differ from the access characteristics of the local file system. Transparent file access means that remote files are accessed as though they were local. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1003.8 Transparent File Access (TFA) Working Group of the POSIX Standards Committee (IEEE P1003) has undertaken the development of an application programming interface specification based on the IEEE 1003.1-1990 Standard. The objective of IEEE 1003.8 is to permit access to the widest possible range of file systems which can resemble the file system of IEEE 1003.1-1990. The report presents the major issues and problems whose resolution form the basis of the IEEE 1003.8 TFA Standard. Some issues are illustrated with examples and demonstrations using the Network File System (NFS), the most widely used implementation for accessing remote files on a network.