F.0 Comparison of NSS on Linux and NCP Volumes on Linux POSIX File Systems

This section compares features and capabilities of the Novell Storage Services file system on Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 Linux to those of NCP volumes on Linux POSIX file systems such as Ext3, XFS, and Reiser. For information, see Managing NCP Volumes in the OES 2 SP3: NCP Server for Linux Administration Guide.

For information to help you choose from among the numerous Linux file system offerings, see the following:

Feature Description

NSS on OES 2 SP3 Linux

NCP Volumes on Linux POSIX File Systems

Management interfaces

Novell iManager Storage plug-in

NSSMU for Linux

Novell iManager with various storage-related plug-ins. For information, see Section 9.1, Novell iManager and Storage-Related Plug-Ins.

EVMS (evmsgui)

NSS utilities in a terminal console

NSS commands in the NSS Console (NSSCON)

Novell Remote Manager for Linux (browse only)

YaST > Partitioner for managing devices

Novell Remote Manager for Linux (Managing Shares)

NCP commands in the NCP Console (NCPCON)

YaST EVMS (evmsgui) for managing Linux devices and volumes.

Various Linux commands and utilities in a terminal console.

File system trustees and trustee rights to control access to directories and files

Yes, works with or without concurrent running of NCP Server.

Yes, requires NCP Server to enforce the rights and access on the extended attributes.

File access protocols

NCP

CIFS/Samba using Novell Samba

Linux NFS (version 3)

Linux NFS and Samba requires users to be Linux-enabled with Linux User Management. The service must also be LUM enabled.

Novell AFP for Linux (beginning in OES 2 SP1)

Novell CIFS for Linux (beginning in OES 2 SP1)

NCP

CIFS/Samba using Novell Samba

File system directory and file attributes to control functions available for directories and files

Files and Folders plug-in to iManager

Novell NetStorage

Novell Client

Novell Remote Manager for Linux. See Viewing Key NSS Directory and File Attributes as Linux POSIX Permissions in the OES 2 SP3: File Systems Management Guide.

Not applicable. Use POSIX file and directory attributes.

Directory quotas

Yes, requires the Directory Quotas attribute to be enabled.

Novell NetStorage

Novell Client

No

User space quotas (user space restrictions)

Yes, for OES Linux SP1 and later

Yes, if the Linux file system being used under the NCP share supports user quotas and the Linux file system resides on a local, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel drive. All users of the NCP volume must be LUM enabled. Manage the user quotas using the Linux file system tools.

Default mount location for NSS pools

/opt/novell/nss/mnt/.pools/poolname

Not applicable.

Volume name space

Long is the default name space, which is case insensitive.

You can specify the UNIX name spaces on mounting the NSS volume to make its directory names and filenames case sensitive. Using UNIX name space slows performance compared to using Long.

For example:

mount ns=namespace

Valid name space values are dos, mac, long, or unix.

UNIX; no support for case insensitive names.

Salvage for deleted volumes, directories, and files

Yes

No

Volume encryption

Yes, for OES Linux SP1 and later

Yes, for Reiser

File compression

Yes

No

Data shredding (secure deletion)

Yes, up to 7 times

No

Online resizing of volumes and pools

Yes

Yes, depending on the file system

Multiple I/O paths to storage media

For information, see Managing Multipath I/O for Devices in the SLES 10 SP3: Storage Administration Guide.

No; NSS-specific multipath I/O tools as are not available on Linux.

Use the Linux Device Mapper driver support for mutlipath I/O on devices where you plan to create NSS file systems.

Use the Linux Device Mapper driver support for mutlipath I/O on devices. (NCP is not required to make this work.)

Software RAID support

RAID 0, 1, and 5.

RAID 0, 1, 4, 5 and 6. RAID 0+1 can be created using the Linux mdadm(8) command as a complex RAID using the RAID 0+1 option, or as a nested RAID.

For information, see the SLES 10 SP3: Storage Administration Guide.

Pool snapshot

(retain point-in-time version of a pool using block-level copy on write)

Yes, using iManager or NSSMU.

Depends on the file system. EVMS supports device snapshots for the devices it manages. (NCP is not required to make this work.)

Hard links

Yes; enhanced hard links support is available in OES 2 and later.

For information, see Section 24.0, Managing Hard Links.

Yes

Backup support

Yes, using Novell Storage Management Services for Linux.

For information, See Section 26.0, Managing Backup and Restore for Data and Trustee Information.

No. Use third-party solutions.

Data migration from NSS volumes on NetWare

Yes

Yes

Novell Archive and Version Services

Yes.

For information, see the OES 2 SP3: Novell Archive and Version Services 2.1 Administration Guide for Linux.

No

Novell Distributed File Services

For information, see the OES 2 SP3: Novell Distributed File Services Administration Guide for Linux.

Yes, for OES 2 Linux and later.

NSS volumes on OES 2 Linux can contain junctions or be a junction target. NSS volumes on OES 1 Linux can be a junction target, but junctions are not supported in the volume.

Only as targets of junctions in OES 2 and later.

DFS does not support junctions on NCP volumes.

Dynamic Storage Technology

For information, see the OES 2 SP3: Dynamic Storage Technology Administration Guide.

Yes

Not available in the initial OES 2 release.

Novell Cluster Services for Linux

For information, see the OES 2 SP3: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.8 Administration Guide for Linux.

Yes

For information, see Creating Cluster-Enabled Pools and Volumes.

Yes; cluster the Linux POSIX file system, then create the NCP volume on it.

For information, see Creating Linux POSIX Volumes on Shared Devices.

Novell Transaction Tracking System (TTS)

No

Use the Journal mode for Linux POSIX file systems that support journaling.

Operating system version detection

Default process

Default process

Device maintenance support

Activate and deactivate devices by pool.

Activate and deactivate devices using Linux tools.

Cache balancing for NSS cache buffers

You can specify a minimum cache buffer size.

For information, see Tuning NSS Performance on Linux.

Integrated with the Linux file system cache.

CD and DVD device recognition

No; not managed by NSS.

Use Linux services to mount CDs and DVDs as Linux volumes.

Yes, default

Ability to access DOS partitions as on a NetWare server

No; not managed by NSS. Use Linux services instead.

Yes, using Linux services.

Default mount location for NSS volumes

/media/nss/volumename

Not applicable.

Default mount location for devices managed by EVMS

/dev/evms/

/dev/evms/

Interface

64-bit

64-bit

Character format

Unicode

UTF-8

Maximum device size recognized (physical or logical)

2 TB

For a 32-bit OS:

  • 4 TB for Ext2 or Ext3

  • 16 TB (minus 1 Byte) for Reiser

For a 64-bit OS:

  • 2 to 32 TB for Ext2 or Ext3, depending on the block size

  • 16 TB (minus 1 Byte) for Reiser

Maximum software RAID size (combined total of all member segments)

2 TB

See Maximum device size recognized.

Minimum software RAID segment size

12 MB per segment

Depends on the file system.

Maximum partition size

2 TB

Valid Range: 10 MB to 2 TB

Up to 16 TB, depending on the file system and block size as noted above.

Maximum number of partitions (logical or physical devices) per pool

No practical limit

Not applicable.

Maximum pool size

8 TB (using 4 or more partitions of up to 2 TB each)

Up to the partition size, depending on the file system.

Minimum pool size

10 MB

Not applicable.

Maximum size of a volume

Up to 8 TB, depending on the pool size and available space in the pool.

Volume quotas can be overbooked. For information, see Section 18.2, Guidelines for NSS Volumes.

Up to the partition size, depending on the file system.

Maximum file size

Up to 8 TB, depending on the volume size and available space in the volume.

2 GB to 2 TB for Ext2 or Ext3, depending on the block size.

Up to 8 TB for Reiser.

Maximum number of files per volume

(In practice, how many files be managed is limited only by the file browser’s and application’s ability to list and access the files.)

Up to 8 trillion (10E12), regardless of how many name spaces are loaded.

Up to 4 billion (10E9) files in a single directory.

Up to 8 trillion (10E12), regardless of how many name spaces are loaded.

Maximum number of files open concurrently

1 million (10E6)

Millions (10E6), depending on the file system

Maximum number of volumes per server

Unlimited NSS data volumes, but only 255 can be mounted at a time

Unlimited

Time to mount a volume

Requires only a few seconds

NSS uses a journaling file system and does not need to scan the entire file system to create a directory entry table (DET) and to load a File Allocation Table (FAT).

Depends on the file system; from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Time to repair corrupted volume

Up to several hours, depending on the volume size.

Up to several hours, depending on the volume size