brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) (04/13/90)
The new release of AT&T SYS V, from what I have read in the UNIX mags, allows for Virtual File Systems. What is Virtual File Systems used for? Will it be possible to access database file systems, (say the Informix turbo File System) or some other non-standard (rather package dependent) file systems when the "specifications" of the file system are available? I can imagine the possibility of doing an "ls" or a "cat" command on say, a Informix Turbo (or some other database) file system by writing suitable device drivers (or whatever it takes) using the "specificationss" of such a non-standard (i.e. non-unix) file system. I would like to hear of other applications /uses of the Virtual File System capabilities. -bindu rama rao ------------------------------------------ I DO NOT REPRESENT ANYBODY BUT ME I DO NOT SPEAK FOR OTHERS. I REPEAT, I DO NOT REPRESENT MY EMPLOYER.
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (04/14/90)
In article <23299@abcom.ATT.COM> brr@abcom.ATT.COM (Rao) writes: > > The new release of AT&T SYS V, from what I have read in > the UNIX mags, allows for Virtual File Systems. > > What is Virtual File Systems used for? The Virtual File System is the System V R4 equivalent to the Sys V R3 File system switch. I believe it originates in SunOS. What it does is place a layer between the file system specific code and the generic code in the kernel. This makes it much easier to add new file system types (like NFS, or UFS) since the file system independent portion (above the VFS) does not need to be modified. -- Conor P. Cahill (703)430-9247 Virtual Technologies, Inc., uunet!virtech!cpcahil 46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160 Sterling, VA 22170