Hierarchical File Systems Are Dead

For over forty years, we have assumed hierarchical file system namespaces. These namespaces were a rudimentary attempt at simple organization. As users have begun to interact with increasing amounts of data and are increasingly demanding search capability, such a simple hierarchical model has outlasted its usefulness. For this reason, we should design file systems whose organizations map to the ways we access and manipulate data now. We present a new file system architecture in which we replace the hierarchical namespace with a tagged, search-based one.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: HOTOS
• Authors: Margo I. Seltzer, Nicholas Murphy
• Keywords: Hierarchical, Hierarchical File, HOTOS 2009, Operating System, Simple Hierarchical Model