Freespace File Systems

The Freespace File Systems are accessible directories in which the file space resides on local disk. This space is similar to the "/tmp" directories except that the Freespace directories always live on actual disks (so they should survive a machine reboot) and are NOT subject to automatic cleanup. But still like "/tmp", the Freespace directories are not backed up. If a user deletes a file by accident or a hardware failure occurs, the files on the freespace file system are lost.

The Freespace File System is located at

  1. "/{machine_name}/local/" if you are on a Faculty or Research Domain Machine
  2. "/freespace/local/" if you are on a Graduate, Undergraduate or iLab Domain Machine

Note: Not all machines have a Freespace File System.

The Graduate and iLab Domain Freespace File Systems can be accessed remotely by other domain machines by the "/freespace/{machine_name}/" mount point. On such machines, do not try to access the "/freespace/" directory. Doing so will cause all remote freespaces to mount. If any fail (such as if a machine has been turned off), your shell will lock up and you'll have to CNTRL-C to regain a prompt. To prevent this locking problem, on such machines change directory directly to the desired mount point first (for example "cd /freespace/tron/", or "/freespace/local/").

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