Open System Services Management and Operations Guide (G06.30+, H06.08+, J06.03+)

Figure 9 Guardian Files and Disk Volumes
Each pathname for an OSS regular file has an underlying Guardian filename. The OSS name
servers map such pathnames onto corresponding Guardian filenames. This mapping, known as
name resolution, is necessary because OSS pathnames are different from Guardian filenames.
Each OSS file therefore has two names:
• An OSS pathname, such as /usr/henry/workfile
• A Guardian filename, such as $VOL2.ZYQ00001.Z0000034
The parts of a Guardian filename and an OSS pathname for an OSS file are:
InodeFilesetVolumeEnvironment
.Z0000034ZYQ00001$VOL2Guardian
/henry/workfile/usr--OSS
Directory files, terminal device files, AF_UNIX sockets, and FIFOs (named pipes) do not have
underlying Guardian files or Guardian filenames. These OSS special files are managed entirely
by OSS server processes. Such files do not require any configuration action by the system manager;
their operation cannot be controlled through SCF FILESET commands.
Guardian files also exist in the OSS environment. All accessible Guardian files on the local node
are located in the /G directory of the OSS file system.
From a programmer’s or end user’s perspective, the /G directory is its own fileset in the OSS file
system; each disk volume within the Guardian file system and each terminal process also are
separate filesets. An OSS administrator does not need to define or manage these filesets through
the SCF interface and they do not appear in the fileset configuration database.
The OSS pathnames of Guardian files can have no more than four elements including the /G, as
illustrated in Figure 10. These elements, although technically OSS filenames, are subject to the
length restrictions for Guardian filenames.
82 Understanding the OSS File System