[Pvfs2-users] Problems with basic distribution (with xattrs)

[Phil Carns]

Tony Kew wrote:
> Dear Phil,
> 
> Thanks for the info, I am on the dev list, so I've seen the twod_dist 
> debate.
> 
> They seem to have gone for the "fix on the fly" approach, where I would 
> have
> preferred the setfattr to fail with a useful error message, or have the 
> server
> reset the client settings to ones "in bounds" so you could tell from the 
> client
> that the settings are getting overridden.  I would also like to avoid 
> filling the
> server with error messages - as happens at the moment if there is a problem
> with num_groups > number_of_servers

We'll definitely stop the server error messages if nothing else. 
Unfortunately I don't think we have a straightforward way to make the 
setfattr itself fail.  The setfattr just sets arbitrary extended 
attributes.  In the dist_params case those attributes don't get 
interpreted until a new file is created and a few other configuration 
settings can be taken into account.

-Phil