Depending on the file type of the node file to be saved, HSMS saves either only its inode or both inode and data:
Node file to be saved | UNIX |
Regular file | yes |
Directory | yes |
Symbolic link | yes |
Hard ink | yes |
Semaphore | no |
FIFO file | no |
Character special file | no |
Block special file | no |
Shared data | no |
File system /proc | no |
With a symbolic link, HSMS processes only the inode and the path of the node file it references.
A hard link is processed as follows: for the first occurrence of a hard link to a file, HSMS processes both inode and data as with a normal node file. For all subsequent hard links to the same file, HSMS writes the path name and a pointer to the first hard link to the save file.
For more detailed information about symbolic links and hard links please refer to the section on the ln command in the “POSIX Commands” manual [13].