Customer Reviews

Managing AFS: The Andrew File System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are an afs sysadmin you can't afford not to have this incredible book. I'm surprised there are no other rave reviews here.Richard Campbell has done a tremendous job showing the reader what is going on under the hood of an afs system. He also mentions various little titbits you won't find anywhere in Transarc's documentation or webstite. The chapter on debuggin various problems will give you an procedural methodology on how to tackle certain problems. There is an enormous amount of info in this book. It's also worth mentioning that the publisher has done a wonderfull job on design and typesetting; very clean like one would expect from a serious technical book. Anyway what r u waiting for ?; click and buy, this is your new best friend ;)

Caveat: yes, I knew the author. I don't think that has affected my review, but full disclosure is usually a good thing.

There is a startling shortage of books on AFS (the Andrew File System), and this book is probably the reason why. Ric Campbell wrote this book in the early days of AFS, and it has been enough of a supplement to the system documentation that there's been little need for another.

Campbell's presentation assumes you have some degree of skill as a UNIX or Linux system administrator. Given that, the book is enough that any competent admin should be able to build and maintain their AFS cell.

Do be aware that the book is dated. AFS languished for a while, but development has picked up and there are a number of improvements (particularly on the client side) which are useful to know about. This is the only reason I give it four stars rather than five. Let us hope Ric returns to the book and gives it the update is deserves. I happily recommend both the book and the file system.