Windows-based clients

A Windows-based client is a client that runs a Windows® operating system and has the SAN File System client code installed. In this release, SAN File System supports clients that run on these operating systems:

The SAN File System client code installed on a Windows-based client is called an Installable File System (IFS). The IFS is a subsystem of the Windows file system. It directs all metadata operations to a metadata server and all data operations to storage devices attached to your storage area network (SAN). An IFS makes the metadata that is visible to a client's operating system, as well as any applications that run on the client, look identical to metadata read from a native, locally attached file system.

Windows clients mount the global namespace on their systems. After the global namespace is mounted, users can use it just as they would any other file system to access data and to create, update, and delete files and directories. The following example shows the My Computer view from a Windows 2000 client. The T: drive (labeled SFS) is the attach point of the SAN File System.


This illustration shows a Windows 2000 client folder view of SAN File System.
Windows-based clients use a subset of the Windows semantics. The allowed semantics are described to Windows as volume properties, which are visible, for example, as properties of the drive within Windows Explorer. The following volume properties are supported by SAN File System:

Parent topic: Clients

Related concepts
Global namespace
Components

Terms of use | Feedback
(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2003, 2004. All Rights Reserved.