The CacheFS File System

The CacheFS™ file system can be used to improve performance of remote file systems or slow devices such as CD-ROM drives. When a file system is cached, the data that is read from the remote file system or CD-ROM is stored in a cache on the local system.

If you want to improve the performance and scalability of an NFS or CD-ROM file system, you should use the CacheFS file system. The CacheFS software is a general purpose caching mechanism for file systems that improves NFS server performance and scalability by reducing server and network load.

Designed as a layered file system, the CacheFS software provides the ability to cache one file system on another. In an NFS environment, CacheFS software increases the client per server ratio, reduces server and network loads, and improves performance for clients on slow links, such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). You can also combine a CacheFS file system with the AutoFS service to help boost performance and scalability.

For detailed information about the CacheFS file system, see Chapter 41, Using The CacheFS File System (Tasks).

The Universal Disk Format (UDF) File System

The UDF file system is the industry-standard format for storing information on the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) optical media.

The UDF file system is provided as dynamically loadable, 32-bit and 64-bit modules, with system administration utilities for creating, mounting, and checking the file system on both SPARC and x86 platforms. The Solaris UDF file system works with supported ATAPI and SCSI DVD drives, CD-ROM devices, and disk and diskette drives. In addition, the Solaris UDF file system is fully compliant with the UDF 1.50 specification.

The UDF file system provides the following features:

• Ability to access the industry standard CD-ROM and DVD-ROM media when they contain a UDF file system

• Flexibility in exchanging information across platforms and operating systems

• A mechanism for implementing new applications rich in broadcast-quality video, high-quality sound along with the richness in interactivity using the DVD video specification based on UDF format

The following features are not included in the UDF file system:

• Support for write-once media, CD-RW, and DVD-RAM, with either the sequential disk-at-once and incremental recording

• UFS components such as quotas, ACLs, transaction logging, file system locking, and file system threads, which are not part of the UDF 1.50 specification

The UDF file system requires the following:

• The Solaris 7 11/99, Solaris 8, Solaris 9 release

• Supported SPARC or x86 platforms

• Supported CD-ROM or DVD-ROM device

The Solaris UDF file system implementation provides:

• Support for industry-standard read/write UDF version 1.50

• Fully internationalized file system utilities

Temporary File System

The temporary file system (TMPFS) uses local memory for file system reads and writes, which is typically much faster than a UFS file system. Using TMPFS can improve system performance by saving the cost of reading and writing temporary files to a local disk or across the network. For example, temporary files are created when you compile a program, and the operating system generates a lot of disk activity or network activity while manipulating these files. Using TMPFS to hold these temporary files can significantly speed up their creation, manipulation, and deletion.

Files in TMPFS file systems are not permanent. They are deleted when the file system is unmounted and when the system is shut down or rebooted.

TMPFS is the default file system type for the /tmp directory in the Solaris operating system. You can copy or move files into or out of the /tmp directory, just as you would in a UFS file system.

The TMPFS file system uses swap space as a temporary backing store. If a system with a TMPFS file system does not have adequate swap space, two problems can occur:

• The TMPFS file system can run out of space, just as regular file systems do.

• Because TMPFS allocates swap space to save file data (if necessary), some programs might not execute because of insufficient swap space.

For information about creating TMPFS file systems, see Chapter 39, Creating File Systems (Tasks). For information about increasing swap space, see Chapter 42, Configuring Additional Swap Space (Tasks).

The Loopback File System

The loopback file system (LOFS) lets you create a new virtual file system so that you can access files by using an alternative path name. For example, you can create a loopback mount of root (/) on /tmp/newroot, which will make the entire file system hierarchy look like it is duplicated under /tmp/newroot, including any file systems mounted from NFS servers. All files will be accessible either with a path name starting from root (/), or with a path name that starts from /tmp/newroot.

For information on how to create LOFS file systems, see Chapter 39, Creating File Systems (Tasks).

Process File System

The process file system (PROCFS) resides in memory and contains a list of active processes, by process number, in the /proc directory. Information in the /proc directory is used by commands like ps. Debuggers and other development tools can also access the address space of the processes by using file system calls.

Caution - Do not delete the files in the /proc directory. The deletion of processes from the /proc directory does not kill them. Remember, /proc files do not use disk space, so there is little reason to delete files from this directory.

The /proc directory does not require administration.

Additional Virtual File Systems

These additional types of virtual file systems are listed for your information. They do not require administration.

Commands for File System Administration

Most commands for file system administration have both a generic component and a file system-specific component. Whenever possible, you should use the generic commands, which call the file system-specific component. The following table lists the generic commands for file system administration, which are located in the /usr/sbin directory.

Table 38-1 Generic Commands for File System Administration