From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
User-Agent: K-9 Mail for Android
In-Reply-To: <35E88FD4-1AA6-49B2-8B27-4F07240B5FB2@9srv.net>
References: <CAPd04b6tULNjA5WA25Z0nSRemV38W9b4cVf2m0fFYAoH88Mkcw@mail.gmail.com>
	<814a9ee9-3cf7-453f-b6cb-0d3b10601100@email.android.com>
	<CAPd04b71MfcU+nDjyZGx9M6pYfgV3X8ysaXd=_QYDjp69ha1=g@mail.gmail.com>
	<753998c8-7595-4f6a-bb94-e45c95dd9b42@email.android.com>
	<35E88FD4-1AA6-49B2-8B27-4F07240B5FB2@9srv.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
 charset=UTF-8
From: Stanley Lieber <sl@9front.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2016 10:31:51 -0500
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net>,
	Anthony Sorace <a@9srv.net>
Message-ID: <6dc3a37f-461e-4388-9cf3-c8585f546722@email.android.com>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Subject: Re: [9fans] Maintenance of an auth server files vs a
	dns+dhcp+tftp	server
Topicbox-Message-UUID: ab442478-ead9-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025

Anthony Sorace <a@9srv.net> wrote:

>I'm not sure there's a single "canonical" answer, but many
>installations have run the auth server off its own file system, as
>James originally described. It's been several years now so my memory
>could be fuzzy, but I believe this is what they did at the main Bell
>Labs installation.=20
>
>> On Nov 15, 2016, at 14:05, Stanley Lieber <sl@9front.org> wrote:
>>=20
>> "James A. Robinson" <jim.robinson@gmail.com> wrote:
>>=20
>>> So in a canonical installation the auth server mounts its root from
>the
>>> file server?
>>>=20
>>>> On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 10:47 AM Stanley Lieber <sl@9front.org>
>wrote:
>>>>=20
>>>> The idea is that there is one file system shared by all the
>>> neighboring
>>>> systems. The canonical Plan 9 installation comprises one disk file
>>> server
>>>> and many diskless computing machines (auth servers, cpu servers,
>>> terminals).
>>>>=20
>>=20
>> Yes. You can arrange for hands-free booting by storing  the same
>authid/authdom/password in the nvram of both the file server and the
>auth server. I usually boot the auth server from a 9fat partition or a
>USB key, then tcp (actually, tls) mount the root file system from the
>file server.
>>=20
>> sl
>>=20

The reason I used the term "canonical" is because this was the arrangemen=
t described in the Plan 9 papers. The single file system was touted as on=
e of the central features of the system, and one of its major benefits.

Example benefit: When a diskless system crashes, there is no danger of da=
mage being done to the file system.

sl