A file system for mobile computing

Abstract

A File System for Mobile Computing Carl Downing Tait Distributed file systems are a fundamental structure of distributed computing, and much attention has been focused on their design. But one important new design point has not yet been explored thoroughly: how to support mobile clients. Portable workstations are becoming increasingly common, and people who use these machines should not be forced to accept inferior performance or usability. This dissertation argues that two ideas --- efficient variable-consistency replication and intelligent file prefetching --- lead to a file system that supports mobile clients particularly well. Algorithms, implementations, and analyses are presented to support this assertion. Contents Table of Contents i List of Figures iv List of Tables v Acknowledgements vi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Thesis : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 2 1.2 Sub-Theses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3 1.2.1 Ef...