Transparent Distributed File System Example

KORBit provides a powerful way for the kernel to interact with user space processes. It also allows services to be built on top of KORBit functionality. One example that is greatly simplified with KORBit is a transparent distributed file system.

Appendix A.1 gives a listing of our prototype IDL for specifying a set of object oriented file system access interfaces. These interfaces are designed with the following goals in mind:

1. Allow object oriented programs to use a higher level API than traditional file descriptors: New applications can take advantage of a more modern and uniform API for file access. Explicit exceptions allow for structured error handling and eliminates issues when using errno and multithreaded programs together.

2. Provide all of the functionality of the existing file system API: We would like to provide a mapping library that converts traditional requests into CORBA requests. This requires complete coverage of the existing file system API. This is described below.

3. Wrap existing file system functionality in an object oriented way: We don't plan on extending kernel functionality at all, just making access to it nicer.