An AFS-based mass storage system at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

Abstract

The AFS (Andrew File System) with extensions forms the basis of the distributed mass storage system being implemented at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC). AFS offers transparent, locally cached, secure access to a universal file name space from a wide variety of UNIX platforms. The PSC is extending the standard AFS offering to provide a number of features that are useful in a supercomputing environment. The extensions include a port of AFS client code to Unicos and modifications to support high-performance disk arrays and archival servers such as the Common File System, UniTree, and robotic NSF systems. These features are implemented by the development of generalized multiple residency extensions for AFS servers. Data migration strategies are being developed. The PSC extensions require no changes to the user's AFS client code. >