Stackable Layers: an Architecture for
File System Development
John S
University of California, Los Angeles, Computer Science Department
Citation
John S. Heidemann. Stackable Layers: an Architecture for File System Development. Technical Report CSD-910056. University of California, Los Angeles. [PDF] [alt PDF]
Abstract
This thesis proposes the \em stackable layers\/ method of file system design. This approach constructs file systems from a number of independently developed \em layers. Each layer is bounded by a symmetric interface, syntactically identical above and below. Layers combine in \em stacks, linear or tree-shaped collections, each layer building on the functionality of those beneath it. Stackable filing improves file system development in several ways. Stacking encourages code re-use by building upon already existing layers. Incremental improvement is possible by substitution of existing layers. The layer interface is extensible, allowing new operations to be easily added by third-parties. Each operation is carefully described, permitting existing layers to adjust automatically to the addition of new operations. The feasibility of stackable filing is demonstrated by the development of a prototype layer interface and several file system layers. The performance of multi-layer stacks is found comparable to that of monolithic file systems. Through the re-use of existing services, we find development of new filing services with stackable layers significantly easier than development with traditional methods.Bibtex Citation
@techreport{Heidemann91c, author = {Heidemann, John S.}, title = {Stackable Layers: an Architecture for File System Development}, institution = {University of California, Los Angeles}, year = {1991}, sortdate = {1991-07-01}, project = {ficus}, jsubject = {stacking}, number = {CSD-910056}, month = jul, pages = {100}, keywords = {stackable layers, Ficus}, note = {Master's Thesis.}, copyrightholder = {author}, url = {https://ant.isi.edu/%7ejohnh/PAPERS/Heidemann91c.html}, psurl = {https://ant.isi.edu/%7ejohnh/PAPERS/Heidemann91c.ps.gz}, pdfurl = {https://ant.isi.edu/%7ejohnh/PAPERS/Heidemann91c.pdf}, oldurl = {ftp://ftp.cs.ucla.edu/pub/ficus/ucla_csd_910056.ps.gz}, myorganization = {University of California, Los Angeles, Computer Science Department}, jlocation = {johnh: pafiles} }