What Is a Replicated File System?

For the purposes of failover, a file system can be called a replica when each file is the same size and has the same vnode type as the original file system. Permissions, creation dates, and other file attributes are not considered. If the file size or vnode types are different, the remap fails and the process hangs until the old server becomes available.

You can maintain a replicated file system by using rdist, cpio, or another file transfer mechanism. Because updating the replicated file systems causes inconsistency, follow these suggestions for best results:

• Rename the old version of the file before installing a new one.

• Run the updates at night when client usage is low.

• Keep the updates small.

• Minimize the number of copies.