UIDs as internal names in a distributed file system

ABSTRACT

The use of UIDs as internal names in an operating system for a local network is discussed. The use of internal names in other distributed systems is briefly surveyed. For this system, UIDs were chosen because of their intrinsic location independence and because they seemed to lend themselves to a clean structure for the operating system nucleus. The problems created by UIDs were: generating UIDs; locating objects; supporting multiple versions of objects; replicating objects; and losing objects. Some solutions to these problems are presented; for others, no satisfactory solution has yet been implemented.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.4 Distributed Systems
          Subjects: Client/server

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.3 File Systems Management
          Subjects: Distributed file systems

General Terms:
Design, Management