[K12OSN] OpenAFS

[Angus Carr <acarr saskforestcentre ca>]

I was perusing an article about Linux kernel 2.6 and ran across the 
integration of OpenAFS within the 2.6 kernel.

OpenAFS is a filesystem that provides a distributed server environment, 
allowing for multiple servers on the filesystem. It has the ability to  
allow failure of a file server to not bring down the file sevice. It 
also allows detached computing for transient (laptop) users.

OpenAFS (and it's predecessors) bring the file server environment in 
line with what Windows users get with "Make Available Offline", which we 
use extensively in our shop. Files are transparently available and you 
can use them freely wherever you are, connected or not.

I was thinking of setting up an OpenAFS server system here, and thought 
that others in the K12LTSP community might think it was useful, too. I 
guess I am looking for thoughts from the various members on the list 
about what you think of a service like that. I know that I find the 
Windows version of the same thing absolutely invaluable, as a user, and 
as a sysadmin. The loss of a laptop to airport theives didn't mean we'd 
lost the entire project document tree.

The other component of this is that a large installation with multiple 
LTSP servers could use those servers for file service too, as a 
transparent backup in the case of the loss of the central file server.

Any thoughts?

Angus Carr.