Customer Reviews

VMS File System Internals (VAX - VMS Series)

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File system design and development has been considered "black magic" in the computer industry and subsequently, there are not many books available on the subject. This one is a classic. Kirby McCoy does a great job of covering the VMS file system structure, its interface and its interaction with the operating system. Microsoft Windows NT(r)(tm) is arcitected very much like VMS. Anyone developing a file system should own this book. Anyone developing kernel-level componentes for Windows NT should own this book; if only for a historical perspective.

The VMS file system is one of the most important aspects of that much underrated operating system. While a lot has changed since this book was published - mainly additions and improvements - it still provides the best explanation you are likely to find. As one of Digital's top technical writers, the author follows Einstein's advice in simplifying everything as far as possible, but no further. How authoritative is the book? Well, the software engineers responsible for maintaining the VMS file system used to rely on the author as a source of information when they were in doubt, so you are probably safe to do likewise.