NetWare Distributed File System

Distributed File System (DFS) for OES NetWare effectively enables you to directory-enable your NetWare volumes. It enables you to create virtual directory structures of data that exist on multiple servers in the eDirectory tree. A DFS junction can be applied at any point in your file system. All it does is point to the actual location of the volume referred to by the junction. In effect, it is a file system alias.

It is DFS and the DFS junction that makes it possible to move and split NetWare volumes. When a junction is created, a unique ID for the junction is stored in the Volume Location Database (VLDB). When a user requests access to data through a junction, the Novell client uses the junction's unique ID to search the VLDB for the path to the physical location of the data. It then retrieves and displays the data from its physical location transparently.