ARCHIVED: What is OpenAFS?

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OpenAFS is the open source release of the Andrew File System (AFS). It is a global, distributed file system used by schools and scientific laboratories around the world.

Each OpenAFS site has its own OpenAFS cell, which is comparable to a Windows domain. OpenAFS cells are usually named after the institution or research group administering it. For example, CERN's OpenAFS cell is called cern.ch, and Argonne National Laboratory's OpenAFS cell is called anl.gov.

OpenAFS allows sharing of disk space among hosts by letting all AFS participants on the Internet share one logical file space. The root level directory is /afs, with Internet domains descending from there. For example, /afs/umich.edu/... is a possible directory. OpenAFS directories worldwide are available to users with access to hosts with an OpenAFS client installed.