Node Dependent Files
As with other SSI systems LOCUS sometimes found it necessary to break the illusion of a single system, notably to allow some files to be different on a per-node basis. For example it was possible to build a LOCUS cluster containing both PDP-11/45 and VAX 750 machines, but instruction sets used were not identical, so two versions of each object program would be needed
The solution was to replace the files that needed to be different on a per node basis by special hidden directories. These directories would then contain the different versions of the file. When a user accessed one of these hidden directories the system would check the users context and open the appropriate file.
For example, if the user was running on one of the PDP-11/45's and typed the command /bin/who then the system would find that /bin/who was actually a hidden directory and run the command /bin/who/45. Another user on a VAX node who typed /bin/who would run the command /bin/who/vax.
Read more about this topic: LOCUS (operating System), Description, File System
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