NT kernel has the filter driver framework: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/filterdrv/default.mspx It seems to be useful for things like FS encrytion and compression... is there any plan to implement something similar in Solaris?? Rayson
Rayson Ho wrote:> NT kernel has the filter driver framework: > > http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/filterdrv/default.mspx > > It seems to be useful for things like FS encrytion and compression... > is there any plan to implement something similar in Solaris??If you google "stacking file system" you''ll find a lot of information and papers dating back to the late 1980s - early 1990s. Encryption and compression are (IMHO) the most often cited "reason why this is a great idea and I can''t believe nobody has thought of it before." Perhaps the most interesting is response is from Apple, http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1242.html So, while it might be cool, the idea hasn''t seemed to evolve much from 1990. -- richard
Rayson,> NT kernel has the filter driver framework: > > http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/filterdrv/default.mspx > > It seems to be useful for things like FS encrytion and compression... > is there any plan to implement something similar in Solaris??The Availability Suite product set (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/avs/) offers both snapshot and data replication data services, both of which are built on top of a Solaris filter driver framework. By not installing the two data services (II and SNDR), one is left with a filter driver framework, but of course with no filter drivers. If you are interested in developing an OpenSolaris project for either FS encryption or compression as a new set of filter drivers, I will post relevant information tomorrow in storage-discuss at opensolaris.org. Jim Dunham> > Rayson > _______________________________________________ > zfs-discuss mailing list > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
On 26-Feb-07, at 11:32 PM, Richard Elling wrote:> Rayson Ho wrote: >> NT kernel has the filter driver framework: >> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/filterdrv/default.mspx >> It seems to be useful for things like FS encrytion and compression... >> is there any plan to implement something similar in Solaris?? > > If you google "stacking file system" you''ll find a lot of information > and papers dating back to the late 1980s - early 1990s. Encryption > and > compression are (IMHO) the most often cited "reason why this is a > great idea > and I can''t believe nobody has thought of it before." > > Perhaps the most interesting is response is from Apple, > http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1242.htmlHans Reiser and Namesys have come very close to producing a practical modular filesystem: http://namesys.com/ --Toby> > So, while it might be cool, the idea hasn''t seemed to evolve much > from 1990. > -- richard > _______________________________________________ > zfs-discuss mailing list > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
On 2/26/07, Jim Dunham <James.Dunham at sun.com> wrote:> The Availability Suite product set > (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/avs/) offers both snapshot and > data replication data services, both of which are built on top of a > Solaris filter driver framework.Is the Solaris filter driver framework documented?? I read the Solaris Internals book a while ago but I don''t think it is mentioned there... Rayson> By not installing the two data services > (II and SNDR), one is left with a filter driver framework, but of course > with no filter drivers. If you are interested in developing an > OpenSolaris project for either FS encryption or compression as a new set > of filter drivers, I will post relevant information tomorrow in > storage-discuss at opensolaris.org. > > Jim Dunham > > > > Rayson > > _______________________________________________ > > zfs-discuss mailing list > > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss > >
Rayson, Filter drivers in NTFS are very clever. I was once toying with using it to put unix-style symbolic links in Windows. In this case, I think that such a clever idea wasn''t thought through. Anyone and everyone can add such an layer to the file operation stack. The worst part is that you can''t be sure where in the filter stack you will be put, so you''re at the mercy of the other filter drivers. For example, any filter driver can trap for something and not pass it down the stack. This one feature is usually how virus scanners hook into the file operation stack and is one of the reasons that the whole machine slows down to a crawl when one of these animals are installed. In the Linux/BSD world the alternative is the user file system (FUSE). There is already ongoing work to bring this to OpenSolaris and I can''t wait. It can do almost everything a filter driver can with much less overhead. It also brings a huge array of other filesystems into the hands of Solaris Users. My 2cents. Gary This message posted from opensolaris.org