The main contribution of this work is the FiST language which can describe stackable file systems. This is a first time a high-level language has been used to describe stackable file systems. From a single FiST description we generate code for different platforms. We achieved this portability because FiST uses an API that combines common features from several vnode interfaces. FiST saves its developers from dealing with many kernel internals, and lets developers concentrate on the core issues of the file system they are developing. FiST reduces the learning curve involved in writing file systems, by enabling non-experts to write file systems more easily.
The most significant savings FiST offers is in reduced development and porting time. The average time it took us to develop a stackable file system using FiST was about seven times faster than when we wrote the code using Basefs. We showed how FiST descriptions are more concise than hand-written C code: 5-8 times smaller for average stackable file systems, and as much as 33 times smaller for more complex ones. FiST generates file system modules that run in the kernel, thus benefiting from increased performance over user level file servers. The minimum overhead imposed by our stacking infrastructure is 1-2%.
FiST can be ported to other Unix platforms in 1-3 weeks, assuming the developers have access to kernel sources. The benefits of FiST are multiplied each time it is ported to a new platform: existing file systems described with FiST can be used on the new platform without modification.
We are developing support for file systems that change sizes such as for compression. The main complexity with supporting compression is that the file offsets at the upper and lower layers are no longer identical, and some form of efficient mapping is needed for operations such as appending to a file or writing in the middle. This code complicates the templates, but makes no change to the language.
We are also exploring layer collapsing in FiST: a method to generate one file system that merges the functionality from several FiST descriptions, thus saving the per-layer stacking overheads.
We plan to port our system to Windows NT. NT has a different file system interface than Unix's vnode interface. NT's I/O subsystem defines its file system interface. NT Filter Drivers are optional software modules that can be inserted above or below existing file systems[14]. Their task is to intercept and possibly extend file system functionality. One example of an NT filter driver is its virus signature detector. It is possible to emulate file system stacking under NT. We estimate that porting Basefs to NT will take 2-3 months, not 1-3 weeks as we predict for Unix ports.