update 24-NOV-2004

/home	user files
/answerBook	AnswerBooks
/pub	web, source files
/usr/local	many local binaries
/misc	oracle
/opt/HPnp	HPprinter
/cdrom	mount point for cdrom
/floppy	mount point for floppy
/vol	(unused) automount point

All these directories behave differently than ordinary directories.

Network Shared Directories

The first six directories are automounted network wide. The contents are mounted on demand only, and are dismounted after 5 minutes of inactivity. This cuts down demand on the file servers. Also it makes it much easier to move all or parts of these directories between disks or machines. For example, /home does not really exist - it actually consists of several separate pieces (homeahost:/homea, etc.)

If you do an "ls" or use the file manager on one of the 6 directories, you will only see what is currently mounted, not what is mountable. Since users will typically not need to know what is mountable, this is not much of a disadvantage. However, as a service to users, the sysadmin has placed a file called "ls" which lists the current contents of the /usr/local The sysadmin may need to be reminded to keep the file up to date.

Local Automounts

See the cdrom and floppy files for information on using CD-ROMs and floppy disks.