Concept
In computer storage, a global file system is a that can be accessed from multiple locations, typically across a wide-area network, and provides concurrent access to a global namespace from all locations. In order for a file system to be considered global, it must allow for files to be created, modified, and deleted from any location. This access is typically provided by a cloud storage gateway at each edge location, which provides access using the NFS or SMB network file sharing protocols. There are a number of benefits to using a global file system. First, global file systems can improve the availability of data by allowing multiple copies to be stored in different locations, as well as allowing for rapid restoration of lost data from a remote location. This can be helpful in the event of a disaster, such as a power outage or a natural disaster. Second, global file systems can improve performance by allowing data to be cached closer to the users who are accessing it. This can be especially beneficial in cases where data is accessed by users in different parts of the world. Finally, in contrast to traditional Network attached storage, global file systems can improve the ability of users to collaborate across multiple sites, in a manner similar to . The term global file system has historically referred to a distributed virtual name space built on a set of local s to provide transparent access to multiple, potentially distributed, systems. These global file systems had the same properties such as blocking interface, no buffering etc. but guaranteed that the same path name corresponds to the same object on all computers deploying the filesystem. Also called s these file systems rely on redirection to distributed systems, therefore latency and scalability can affect file access depending on where the target systems reside. The attempted to solve this for a campus environment using caching and a weak consistency model to achieve local access to remote files.