From: Brian Warner Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 19:03:59 +0000 (-0700) Subject: accounting-overview.txt: more edits X-Git-Url: https://git.rkrishnan.org/pf/content/%22news.html/frontends/index.php?a=commitdiff_plain;h=591d0fb5fbbd443d76b311045f1a871803f7428d;p=tahoe-lafs%2Ftahoe-lafs.git accounting-overview.txt: more edits --- diff --git a/docs/proposed/accounting-overview.txt b/docs/proposed/accounting-overview.txt index 553c13eb..230813b1 100644 --- a/docs/proposed/accounting-overview.txt +++ b/docs/proposed/accounting-overview.txt @@ -97,25 +97,25 @@ somehow be retained on each page in a way that minimizes the risk of CSRF attacks and allows safe sharing (cut-and-paste of a URL without sharing the storage authority too). The client node receiving the webapi request will extract the authority string from the request and use it to build the storage -server messages that it uses to fulfill the request. +server messages that it sends to fulfill that request. == Definition Of Authority == -The term "authority" is used here somewhat casually: in the object-capability -world, the word refers to the ability of some principal to cause some action -to occur, whether because they can do it themselves, or because they can -convince some other principal to do it for them. In Tahoe terms, "storage -authority" is the ability to do one of the following actions: +The term "authority" is used here in the object-capability sense: it refers +to the ability of some principal to cause some action to occur, whether +because they can do it themselves, or because they can convince some other +principal to do it for them. In Tahoe terms, "storage authority" is the +ability to do one of the following actions: * upload a new share, thus consuming storage space * adding a new lease to a share, thus preventing space from being reclaimed * modify an existing mutable share, potentially increasing the space consumed -The Accounting effort may involve other kinds of authority that gets limited +The Accounting effort may involve other kinds of authority that get limited in a similar manner as storage authority, like the ability to download a -share: things that may consume CPU time, disk bandwidth, or other limited -resources. There is also the authority to renew or cancel a lease, which may -be controlled in a similar fashion. +share or query whether a given share is present: anything that may consume +CPU time, disk bandwidth, or other limited resources. The authority to renew +or cancel a lease may be controlled in a similar fashion. Storage authority, as granted from a server operator to a client, is not simply a binary "use space or not" grant. Instead, it is parameterized by a @@ -126,48 +126,50 @@ respect to the goals of Accounting) is the "Account Label". A Tahoe "Account" is defined by a variable-length sequence of small integers. (they are not required to be small, the actual limit is 2**64, but neither -are they required to be unguessable). These accounts are arranged in a -hierarchy: the account identifier (1,4) is considered to be a "parent" of -(1,4,2). There is no relationship between the values used by unrelated -accounts: (1,4) is unrelated to (2,4), despite both coincidentally using a -"4" in the second element. +are they required to be unguessable). For the purposes of discussion, these +lists will be expressed as period-joined strings: the two-element list (1,4) +will be displayed here as "1.4". + +These accounts are arranged in a hierarchy: the account identifier 1.4 is +considered to be a "parent" of 1.4.2 . There is no relationship between the +values used by unrelated accounts: 1.4 is unrelated to 2.4, despite both +coincidentally using a "4" in the second element. Each lease has a label, which contains the Account identifier. The storage server maintains an aggregate size count for each label prefix: when asked -about account (1,4), it will report the amount of space used by shares -labeled (1,4), (1,4,2), (1,4,7), (1,4,7,8), etc (but *not* (1) or (1,5)). +about account 1.4, it will report the amount of space used by shares labeled +1.4, 1.4.2, 1.4.7, 1.4.7.8, etc (but *not* 1 or 1.5). The "Account Label" restriction allows a client to apply any label it wants, -as long as that label begins with a specific prefix. If account (1) is +as long as that label begins with a specific prefix. If account 1 is associated with Alice, then Alice will receive a storage authority string -that contains a "must start with (1)" restriction, enabling her to to use +that contains a "must start with 1" restriction, enabling her to to use storage space but obligating her to lease her shares with a label that can be traced back to her. She can delegate part of her authority to others (perhaps with other non-label restrictions, such as a space restriction or time limit) with or without an additional label restriction. For example, she might -delegate some of her authority to her friend Amy, with a (1,4) label -restriction. Amy could then create labels with (1,4) or (1,4,7), but she -could not create labels with the same (1) identifier that Alice can do, nor -could she create labels with (1,5) (which Alice might have given to her other -friend Annette). The storage server operator can ask about the usage of (1) -to find out how much Alice is responsible for (which includes the space that -she has delegated to Amy and Annette), and none of the A-users can avoid -being counted in this total. But Alice can ask the storage server about the -usage of (1,4) to find out how much Amy has taken advantage of her gift. -Likewise, Alice has control over any lease with a label that begins with (1), -so she can cancel Amy's leases and free the space they were consuming. If -this seems surprising, consider that the storage server operator considerd -Alice to be responsible for that space anyways: with great responsibility -(for space consumed) comes great power (to stop consuming that space). +delegate some of her authority to her friend Amy, with a 1.4 label +restriction. Amy could then create labels with 1.4 or 1.4.7, but she could +not create labels with the same 1 identifier that Alice can do, nor could she +create labels with 1.5 (which Alice might have given to her other friend +Annette). The storage server operator can ask about the usage of 1 to find +out how much Alice is responsible for (which includes the space that she has +delegated to Amy and Annette), and none of the A-users can avoid being +counted in this total. But Alice can ask the storage server about the usage +of 1.4 to find out how much Amy has taken advantage of her gift. Likewise, +Alice has control over any lease with a label that begins with 1, so she can +cancel Amy's leases and free the space they were consuming. If this seems +surprising, consider that the storage server operator considered Alice to be +responsible for that space anyways: with great responsibility (for space +consumed) comes great power (to stop consuming that space). === Server Space Restriction === The storage server's basic control over how space usage (apart from the binary use-it-or-not authority granted by handing out an authority string at all) is implemented by keeping track of the space used by any given account -identifier. If account (1,4) sends a request to allocate a 1MB share, but -that 1MB would bring the (1,4) usage over its quota, the request will be -denied. +identifier. If account 1.4 sends a request to allocate a 1MB share, but that +1MB would bring the 1.4 usage over its quota, the request will be denied. For this to be useful, the storage server must give each usage-limited principal a separate account, and it needs to configure a size limit at the