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Access the Windows DFS Using the Web and WebDAV

Alexandre Lossent , IT/IS


The Windows DFS (Distributed File System) is the network file system for the NICE environment. It hosts applications, home directories and workspaces for projects and divisions; it consists of about 150 shared folders distributed on more than 20 servers and aggregated into one single, distributed folder tree. The DFS is available from Windows computers using the UNC path \\cern.ch\dfs or the G: drive on NICE computers. It relies on the CIFS protocol, an evolution of the SMB protocol.

Previously, access to the DFS was difficult from non-Windows platforms: most clients can connect directly to a Windows shared folder on a specific server, however they typically do not support the protocol extensions that allow the DFS to be distributed on several servers. As a result, such clients can access every part of the DFS but not the DFS as a whole. Moreover, accessing the DFS from outside CERN required the use of a VPN connection (see http://cern.ch/vpn for more information). To address these issues, a web-based interface and a WebDAV gateway have been set up.

Web-based access to the DFS

The web access to the DFS (https://dfs.cern.ch) provides a complete file management interface for the DFS. It makes it possible to download and upload files from and to the DFS, manipulate them and manage permissions from any Javascript-enabled browser. Access from outside the CERN Intranet is possible provided HTTPS is used. You will have to authenticate with your NICE user name and password.

WebDAV access to the DFS

WebDAV is a standardized protocol that extends HTTP/1.1 with file management functionality. It is possible to use this protocol as a replacement for FTP, and even as a low-end network file system. Tools and libraries exist on all major platforms to access WebDAV resources with a FTP-like client or mount a WebDAV resource in the local file system (or as a drive letter in the Windows world). Information about WebDAV and open-source clients and libraries is available at http://www.webdav.org.

A WebDAV gateway to the DFS is available world-wide from https://dfs.cern.ch/dfs with a NICE username and password. Some WebDAV clients (Mac OS X, Windows XP if Office is not installed...) do not support encryption and need to use http://dfs.cern.ch/dfs instead, but the unencrypted access is restricted to the CERN Intranet and the VPN connections.

More information about the DFS

Users are invited to visit the DFS web site (https://dfs.cern.ch) for more information on accessing the Windows DFS from non-Windows platforms or from outside CERN.


Web access to the DFS


For matters related to this article please contact the author.


Cnl.Editor@cern.ch
CERN-CNL-2003-003
Vol. XXXVIII, issue no 3


Last Updated on Mon Dec 15 12:10:16 CET 2003.
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