AFS is a distributed file system that enables users to share and access all of the files stored in a network of computers as easily as they access the files stored on their local machines. The file system is called distributed for this exact reason: files can reside on many different machines (be distributed across them), but are available to users on every machine.

AFS stores files on file server machines. File server machines provide file storage and delivery service, along with other specialized services, to the other subset of machines in the network, the client machines. These machines are called clients because they make use of the servers' services while doing their own work. In a standard AFS configuration, clients provide computational power, access to the files in AFS and other "general purpose" tools to the users seated at their consoles. There are generally many more client workstations than file server machines.

AFS file server machines run a number of server processes, so called because each provides a distinct specialized service: one handles file requests, another tracks file location, a third manages security, and so on. To avoid confusion, AFS documentation always refers to server machines and server processes, not simply to servers. For a more detailed description of the server processes, see AFS Server Processes and the Cache Manager.

A cell is an administratively independent site running AFS. As a cell's system administrator, you make many decisions about configuring and maintaining your cell in the way that best serves its users, without having to consult the administrators in other cells. For example, you determine how many clients and servers to have, where to put files, and how to allocate client machines to users.

Although your AFS cell is administratively independent, you probably want to organize the local collection of files (your filespace or tree) so that users from other cells can also access the information in it. AFS enables cells to combine their local filespaces into a global filespace, and does so in such a way that file access is transparent--users do not need to know anything about a file's location in order to access it. All they need to know is the pathname of the file, which looks the same in every cell. Thus every user at every machine sees the collection of files in the same way, meaning that AFS provides a uniform namespace to its users.

AFS groups files into volumes, making it possible to distribute files across many machines and yet maintain a uniform namespace. A volume is a unit of disk space that functions like a container for a set of related files, keeping them all together on one partition. Volumes can vary in size, but are (by definition) smaller than a partition.

Volumes are important to system administrators and users for several reasons. Their small size makes them easy to move from one partition to another, or even between machines. The system administrator can maintain maximum efficiency by moving volumes to keep the load balanced evenly. In addition, volumes correspond to directories in the filespace--most cells store the contents of each user home directory in a separate volume. Thus the complete contents of the directory move together when the volume moves, making it easy for AFS to keep track of where a file is at a certain time.

Volume moves are recorded automatically, so users do not have to keep track of file locations. Volumes can be moved from server to server by a cell administrator without notifying clients, even while the volume is in active use by a client machine. Volume moves are transparent to client machines apart from a brief interruption in file service for files in that volume.

AFS incorporates special features on server machines and client machines that help make it efficient and reliable.

On server machines, AFS enables administrators to replicate commonly-used volumes, such as those containing binaries for popular programs. Replication means putting an identical read-only copy (sometimes called a clone) of a volume on more than one file server machine. The failure of one file server machine housing the volume does not interrupt users' work, because the volume's contents are still available from other machines. Replication also means that one machine does not become overburdened with requests for files from a popular volume.

On client machines, AFS uses caching to improve efficiency. When a user on a client machine requests a file, the Cache Manager on the client sends a request for the data to the File Server process running on the proper file server machine. The user does not need to know which machine this is; the Cache Manager determines file location automatically. The Cache Manager receives the file from the File Server process and puts it into the cache, an area of the client machine's local disk or memory dedicated to temporary file storage. Caching improves efficiency because the client does not need to send a request across the network every time the user wants the same file. Network traffic is minimized, and subsequent access to the file is especially fast because the file is stored locally. AFS has a way of ensuring that the cached file stays up-to-date, called a callback.

Even in a cell where file sharing is especially frequent and widespread, it is not desirable that every user have equal access to every file. One way AFS provides adequate security is by requiring that servers and clients prove their identities to one another before they exchange information. This procedure, called mutual authentication, requires that both server and client demonstrate knowledge of a "shared secret" (like a password) known only to the two of them. Mutual authentication guarantees that servers provide information only to authorized clients and that clients receive information only from legitimate servers.

Users themselves control another aspect of AFS security, by determining who has access to the directories they own. For any directory a user owns, he or she can build an access control list (ACL) that grants or denies access to the contents of the directory. An access control list pairs specific users with specific types of access privileges. There are seven separate permissions and up to twenty different people or groups of people can appear on an access control list.

For a more detailed description of AFS's mutual authentication procedure, see A More Detailed Look at Mutual Authentication. For further discussion of ACLs, see Managing Access Control Lists.