Profiles in mass storage: a tale of two systems

The Los Alamos Common File System (CFS) and the NCAR Mass Storage System (MSS) are file storage and file management systems that serve heterogeneous computing networks of supercomputers, general purpose computers, scientific workstations and personal computers. This paper details philosophical, implementation and performance aspects of the two mass storage systems. Areas covered include the computing environment, the user interface, storage strategies and file movement strategies.