IS and IT managers responsible for enterprise computing services may already be using a distributed filesystem such as NFS, or filesystem adapters, such as Samba, Netatalk, or the Novell-related NCP tools, to unify their Linux and microcomputer network environments. Newer, more powerful distributed filesystems such as OpenAFS, Coda, InterMezzo, and WebDAV can
provide complementary alternatives with better performance, enhanced security, and additional features for logical volume management and replication.

As we'll see in subsquent articles in this series, modern distributed filesystems can easily be integrated into existing Linux computing environments. Distributed filesystems such as InterMezzo, Coda, and WebDAV can provide increased flexibilty in your computing environment, expedite filesharing, reduce per-system costs, and simplify edministrative tasks. Modern distributed filesystems are bringing new life to Sun Microsystem's slogan of "The network is the computer" by extending computer filesystems across the modern computer network.

Bill von Hagen has written for Linux Magazine, Maximum Linux, Linux Format, Mac Home, Mac Tech, and various Linux and Macintosh-related online publications. He is the author of books on SGML, Linux Filesystems, and Red Hat Linux, and is the co-author of a book on Mac OS X. He is the Content Manager for TimeSys Corporation.

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