Planning the File System

Now that you know a little about NSS, you can start planning your NetWare 6.5 file system. Consider the following tips for creating a robust, accessible, and easy-to-manage file system:

• If possible, place SYS in its own storage pool and segregate it from the rest of the non-NetWare applications and data that will be on your NetWare 6.5 server. This will help ensure that the system always has the space it needs for internal operations and promote a stable storage environment for NetWare 6.5 services and utilities.

• To simplify data backup, separate applications and data into distinct volumes. Application volumes will be relatively stable over time, so they can be backed up less frequently than a data volume in which files are changing constantly. For more information about backing up files, see the "Backing Up and Restoring Files" section later in this chapter.

• If different applications will be available to different groups of users, try to organize the applications' directory structures so that you can assign comprehensive rights in a parent directory. This can help prevent you from having to create multiple individual rights assignments at lower-level subdirectories. For more information about file system rights, see Chapter 6, "Users and Network Security."

• If you want to use file compression to compress less frequently used files, try to group those types of files into directories separate from other files that are used more often. That way you can turn on compression for the less-used directories and leave it turned off for the frequently used directories. For more information about file compression, see the "File Compression" section later in this chapter.

• Decide whether you want users' daily work files to reside in personal directories, in project-specific directories, or in some other type of directory structure. Encourage your users to store their files on the network so that the network backup process can back up those files regularly, and so the files can be protected by NetWare security.

• Decide whether you want users to have their own individual home directories.

TIP

You can have home directories created automatically when you create a new user , as explained in Chapter 6 .

These tips can help you effectively plan your file system. In addition, you should take into consideration the directories that NetWare creates automatically during installation, as well as plan for directories that will contain applications. These issues are described in the following sections.

NetWare System Directories

When you install a NetWare server for the first time, there are several directories created by the system with which you should be familiar. These directories contain most of the tools, utilities, and configuration files that you need to configure, monitor, and manage your NetWare 6.5 server. All NetWare system- related directories are created in volume SYS: , a few of which include the following:

• SYSTEM holds nearly all the NLMs and utilities that you will use to configure, manage, and monitor a NetWare 6.5 server. You will become familiar with SYS:SYSTEM as you look for files, compare file versions, and perform other troubleshooting operations.

• PUBLIC holds all the NetWare tools, utilities, and user-related files for a NetWare 6.5 network. Any user created in a NetWare environment will have default access to SYS:PUBLIC so that he can access the tools he needs to set up his client access. Over time, you can add other utilities to this directory if you want all users to have access to them.

• ETC is similar to the /ETC file in a Unix environment. It mostly holds configuration files related to network communications such as protocol configuration, routing tables, DNS and DHCP configuration, audit files, and backup configuration files. It also holds several of the default NetWare log files, such as CONSOLE.LOG.

• LOGIN holds those files to which users need access even though they are not yet logged in to the NetWare environment. This includes language-specific files, the graphic elements used with NoRM's Java-based interface, and the basic utilities necessary to help accomplish a NetWare login.

• APACHE2 and ADMINSRV hold the system files related to the Apache Web server. This includes the Apache admin server, which supports all NetWare 6.5 Web-based administrative tools such as Web Manager, NoRM, and iManager, and the Apache Web server used for creating an actual Web site and providing Web services hosted on NetWare 6.5. For more information on Apache Web server, see Chapter 9, "NetWare 6.5 Web Services."

• TOMCAT holds the system files related to the Tomcat Servlet engine. For more information on Tomcat, see Chapter 9.

WARNING

Because the SYS volume contains many directories containing files required for running and managing your NetWare network, do not rename or delete any of them without making absolutely sure they're unnecessary in your particular network's situation. This is another good reason not to mix your business applications and data with the system files on SYS .

There are many other directories related to specific services that you can load on a NetWare 6.5 server, and you can create additional directories and subdirectories in volume SYS , if desired.

Nonsystem Directories

For files not directly related to NetWare, or your network environment, it makes more sense to create a separate file structure. That way there will be fewer chances for problems to be introduced into your core NetWare system through extraneous installation, configuration, or management activities.

You need to consider application and file placement when planning your NetWare file system. By doing so, you can create a file structure in which it is much easier to assign proper trustee rights so that users have access to what they need, but without granting them access to things they don't. For example, general-use applications can be organized in an APPS volume, each in its own subdirectory. That way, rights to these applications can be easily assigned high in the directory structure where they will flow down, through inheritance, to all subdirectories. For more information about file system rights, see Chapter 6.

If an application requires that it be installed at the root of a file system, NetWare gives you the flexibility of installing the application where it makes sense and then creating a root drive mapping to fool the application into thinking it is operating from a root location in the file system. Creating a root drive mapping requires the redirector capabilities of either the Novell client or the NetDrive client. See Chapter 2, "Novell Clients," for more information on the Novell client. See Chapter 10, "NetWare File Access," for more information on NetDrive.

You can create a map root from the client, but if it is needed for a large number of users, a much better way is to include the map command in the appropriate login script. That way the map operation will be performed automatically when each user logs in and you don't have to worry about making changes to every workstation. For example, you can add the following command to a container login script to map a root drive for all users within the container:

 MAP ROOT S16:=VOL1:APPS\ABC 

For more information about login scripts, see Appendix B.

If you decide to host an application from the NetWare server, you should flag the application's executable files as Shareable, Read-Only (S, Ro). This allows the application to be used by multiple users simultaneously , but prevents users from inadvertently deleting or modifying it. This is an additional layer of protection beyond that provided by restricting access to the files at the directory level. For more information on file system rights, see Chapter 6.