nal computer, or even to predict accurately how much each user will require, disk space can be added centrally for access by all users in a straightforward manner. This greatly facilitates performance, maintenance and access control.
There are four key areas that are taken into account when developing requirements or standards for distributed file systems: reliability, communication, homogeneity and security. These are typically solved through a combination of hardware and software solutions. Reliability is perhaps the most critical of these factors since it does users little good to have access to data if they do not have confidence in the reliability of that data. This does not necessarily mean that the file system provides information on the accuracy of the data, only that the system is providing the data that is being requested in its most current state. Reliability is dependent on the integrity of the system as well as the integrity of the communication between various componen
...