HP/DEC's AdvFS is GPL

It's IT Blogwatch: in which HP open-sources some interesting old DEC code. Not to mention Matt Harding, back from another of his famous geek-dancing world tours...

Kelly Fiveash reports:

Hewlett-Packard plans to make its Tru64 Unix Advanced File System available to the open source community. The tech giant said today that Linux can adopt AdvFS source code under version two of the open source General Public License (GPL). The file system was first developed in 1991 for business customers using Digital Equipment Corp. Alpha Unix machines. HP said it had chosen version two of the GPL because of its compatibility with the Linux kernel. It also claimed the code will boost the uptime and performance of Linux file systems. AdvFS is used in file and storage management, enables online system backups and increases data availability, said the company. more

Ex-HP'er Bruce Perens sticks to the facts:

The code is here. While the contribution makes life easier for HP and former DEC customers who are migrating to Linux, it also claims a number of advanced features ... Flexible multi-device storage pools shared by multiple file systems, with or without a volume manager ... No need to take file systems off-line to expand, shrink or reconfigure ... Snapshots for consistent backups while applications are on-line ... Ability to recover deleted files ... Fine grain control over file system and file placement within the storage pool ... On-line rebalancing of files and free space across the storage pool ... On-demand or background file and file system defragmentation. more

Znork waxes curmudgeonly:

Exactly which feature is unique? Snapshotting, striping, mirroring, resizing, encryption, etc, all of it can be done through the device mapper stack. I have situations where I don't want any filesystem at all on the mixed chunks (shared iSCSI block devices, for example), others where I want partial mirrors, parts crypted, parts remote-synced, etc. Mixing block device, volume management and filesystem together in my opinion, simply bad engineering. There are far too many assumptions about what people usually do so you end up with something suitable only for exactly what the designer had in mind, and worse, sometimes completely unsuitable for what people actually do. Having run both AdvFS and ZFS, I vastly prefer the layered approach of ext3/LVM/md/etc. ... Try actually running ZFS in production for a while with any kind of odd load (and some not so odd loads at all). Sometimes things just aren't all they're hyped up to be. Filesystems are one part of most systems where 'exciting' isn't the most desirable feature. more

David C. Ross grumbles:

As a former Digital UNIX admin, all I can say is that this would have been amazing news about ten years ago. Even five years ago it would have been pretty great. Now? Well, it sounds like HPaq is just kicking it to the curb so it will probably be another year or two before anyone can beat it into a working filesystem for anything but HPucks. There is already no shortage of file systems that can do what AdvFS could do, so by the time it is ready for prime time prime time will have moved on. Oh well. 1998 me is still pleased to hear this. more

And Macka also thinks back:

It was pretty flakey around Tru64 v4, but got a major re-write for Tru64 v5 which cleared up the problems and made it very stable after that. Today, it's the most stable filesystem I've ever used ... There was a marketing drive which fortunately didn't last very long where they tried to brand it as the Polyserve filesystem, then it got changed. Even Polyserve was an improvement on its birth name, the MegaSafe Filesystem. You can still see remnants of that in the Tru64 kernel config file: its the options MSFS line that triggers inclusion of AdvFS into the kernel. The word MegaSafe also crops up all over the source tree too. Go take a look ;-) more

But HP's Linux Chief Technologist, Bdale Garbee, clarifies:

While it would be fine with HP if someone wants to "port" AdvFS to Linux or any other operating system with a GPLv2 compatible license, this contribution is not intended to "compete" with other existing file system projects underway in and around the kernel.org development community. Rather, our hope is that the algorithms, design documentation, and test suite now available at the AdvFS site... and the active participation of HP engineers in various open-source file system projects who have lots of AdvFS experience... will help to accelerate the inclusion of AdvFS-like enterprise features and capabilities in next-generation file systems for Linux. more

And finally...

• 14 months in the making. 42 countries. Cast of thousands: Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) [and if you're not grinning foolishly by about 1'05, you have no soul]
  

Buffer overflow:

• Richi Jennings: "Secure Resolutions" Sends Spam
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• Michael Arrington: Modeling The Real Market Value Of Social Networks
• Rough Type: On the trail of the itinerant computer
• Michelle Kessler: PCs: One billion served
• Danny Sullivan: George Carlin's Death Spikes Searches For His Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV

Other Computerworld bloggers:

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• Barbara Krasnoff: Hands on: Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ50 sends images over WiFi
• Preston Gralla: History's verdict: Bill Gates, yes; Steve Jobs, no
• Mike Elgan: Why you'll love 'virtual sticky notes'
• Seth Weintraub: Mac microphone line in only port is a real drag
• Patrick Thibodeau: HP customer support move raises questions
• Martin MC Brown: Open and closed Wi-Fi
• Mark Hall: Integrate on-demand services
• Shark Tank: Short answer: No

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Mac OS vulnerability exploited by poker Trojan
• Steal this Wi-Fi: go to jail
• Oops: Firefox 3.0 critical vulnerability