der.hans wrote:
>>How about OpenAFS?  Unified directory space, transparent data migration,
>>multiple server support, expandable, LDAP/Kerberos authentication - the
>>only two things I would like to see is a Network based RAID and
>>disconnected operation ala Coda.
> 
> Look at the enhanced network block device.
> 
> ...
> 
> It allows you to export a partition or file to another system. On the other
> system you can use it like a local disk. An example is that you could setup
> an enbd as the second device for a mirror and have a backup on another box.

I've looked at that in the past, but it's not quite what I'm looking 
for.  What I'm envisioning is a hybrid of AFS, ENDB, RAID and Bittorrent.

Nearly every workstation shipping today has a harddrive so big that most 
of it will never be used in the normal course of business.  This space 
usually ranges from 2GB to 30GB.  In a medium size business this can 
amount to well over a half TB of unused storage.

What I would like to see is a daemon similar to ENBD to aggregate this 
diskspace into a network logical volume with multiple redundancy.  Some 
of the required features:

*  Client workstations should transfer data directly to and from each 
other.  A central server should only handle authentication and data 
transfer requests.  This eliminates the server network interface as a 
bottleneck similar to bittorrent.

*  The central servers should be peered to allow scalability and 
redundancy.  If a single server fails, other servers should pick up the 
slack.  Multiple servers will reduce the user load in very large 
installations.

*  Client workstations should be grouped into redundancy cells, where 
data is replicated to other workstations in a particular area to 
increase throughput, and allow the filesystem to work even if x% of the 
workstations are offline.

Anyone want to discuss this idea further?  Let me know, and I'll start 
organizing a meeting.


-- 
Chris Lewis
shadow@digitalnirvana.com
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If it compiles, it is good, if it boots up it is perfect.
       - Linus Torvalds
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