ARCHIVED: What is AFS?

AFS stands for the Andrew File System, a distributed file system. AFS is conceptually similar to NFS (Network File System) in that it allows you to share disk space among hosts, but AFS accomplishes this in a different way.

AFS is a global file system that lets all AFS participants on the Internet share one logical file space. The root level directory is /afs, with Internet domains such as indiana.edu descending from there. For example, /afs/umich.edu/... could be a directory. This effectively allows file sharing across the Internet without the use of FTP, and without the localized restrictions of NFS.

AFS started life as a project at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Some of the main players involved in the development later started a company called Transarc Corporation to market the product. Transarc was acquired by IBM and is now a wholly owned subsidiary. Recently IBM withdrew support for AFS. Prior to discontinuing AFS, IBM made a copy of the source available for community development and maintenance; OpenAFS is the name of this release. Indiana University's data storage service, the Research File System, is based on OpenAFS.