What Is a Replicated File System?

For the purposes of failover, a file system may 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, then the remap will fail and the process will hang until the old server becomes available.

You can maintain a replicated file system using rdist, cpio, or other file transfer mechanisms. Because updating the replicated file systems will cause 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.