What is DFS, and what is the DFS bug?

A. DFS stands for Direct File System. It allows NLMs to access the file system directly, rather than using the operating system cache. DFS was designed specifically for database server NLMs to allow faster and more robust disk access. The DFS API was not included in the NetWare 3.12 operating system, but is part of later versions of NetWare. As part of ASA, we ship a DirectFS.NLM, which provides the DFS functionality on NetWare 3. Note that this NLM should not be used on NetWare 4, 5, or 6 servers. In some older versions of the DirectFS.NLM, and in NetWare 4.0 and 4.1x, two bugs could cause database corruption. SA and ASA detect whether the bugs are present, and if so, enable a workaround. In that case, a message is displayed to the console, informing the user that the bug was detected and that the workaround will be used. However, the workaround can slow the expansion of database, transaction log, mirror, write, and temporary files, causing performance degradation. It is recommended ...  more