A scheme to construct global file system

Pervasive computing compels applications to store files on the Internet. We propose a scheme to organize heterogeneous file servers scattered around the Internet into a unified file system that provides a file service as a whole. There are three main features associated with the file system. First, its architecture is of high scalability, which ensures the system can be extended to a large scale. Second, the file names in the system are location-independent. Third, several measures have been taken in the system, such as caches and proximity-based algorithms for file location, to improve the file access performance. The scheme has been implemented in CSFS (Campus Star File System). By now, the prototype development of CSFS has finished