Novell OPEN ENTERPRISE SERVER 2 SP2 - ADMINISTRATION, Implementation Manual, Page: 133 / 288

Storage and File Systems 133
n
ov
do
cx (e
n)
22
Ju
n
e 20
09
OES 2 Workloads
Each file system has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the workload the file system
supports. This section gives some guidelines for picking and building the right file system for a
given workload. In determining which file system to use for a particular workload, consider your
environment and the following explanation of each workload to determine which file system best
meets your workload environment.
Table 13-2
File System Support per Workload
The following sections provide a brief summary of considerations for each workload listed in Table
13-2 .
File Serving (NAS)
Generally there are two types of NAS use cases: Serving files to application servers in a tiered
service oriented architecture (SOA), and serving files to end user desktops and workstations. The
former has minimal access control requirements. The latter has quite heavy access control
requirements.
Typically for serving files to application servers (traditional NAS), you would choose a file system
that is scalable and fast. Reiser and XFS would be good choices in this environment. For file serving
to end user workstations, the access control and security management capabilities of the NSS file
systems with CIFS and NCP file access protocols are important.
The NSS model does better than the other file systems for very large numbers of users. It allows for
security between users and also allows for very fine granular sharing between given users and
groups. NSS includes a visibility feature implemented in the file system that prevents unauthorized
users from even seeing subdirectory structures they don't have rights to access.
Network Printing (iPrint)
iPrint is file system agnostic. There is no noticeable difference in performance or reliability on any
of the file systems.
Workload Type NSS File System Ext3 File System Reiser File System XFS File System
File serving –
Application server Supported Supported Recommended Recommended
File serving – end user
files Recommended Supported Supported Supported
Network printing
(iPrint) Recommended Recommended Recommended Recommended
iFolder Recommended Supported Recommended Recommended
Collaboration
(GroupWise
®
)
Recommended Supported Recommended Recommended
Cluster services Supported Supported Supported Supported
Dynamic Storage
Technology Supported Not Supported Not Supported Not Supported