You may find it convenient to store DCE binaries, system binaries, and configuration files (for example, those commonly found in directories such as /bin and /etc or their equivalents) in the DFS filespace, instead of on the local disk of each machine. Because binary files are operating system specific, you may want to create a different fileset for each system type (for example, pmax_osf1 or rs_aix32) and distribution directory (for example, /etc and /bin) and store the filesets on a DFS File Server machine. You can then create symbolic links from the local disk to the fileset.
Note that DFS simplifies the creation of such links by providing the @sys variable, which is set on a per-Cache Manager basis. When the Cache Manager encounters the @sys variable in a pathname, it substitutes its system name for the variable. (See Using the @sys and @host Variables for a more detailed description of the @sys variable.)
For example, while it is a good practice to store the binary files for a single text editor on the local machine, the binaries for other text editors do not need to be stored on each machine. A system administrator can create filesets that store text editor binaries for each system type. The administrator can then construct a symbolic link from the local disk of each machine to the appropriate fileset in DFS. For instance, system administrators in the abc.com cell, which runs the OSF/1 and AIX 3.2 operating systems, can configure part of their file tree as shown in the table below.
Examples of Fileset Names and Mount Points for Binary Files
| Fileset Name | Mount Point |
| pmax_osf1 | /.../abc.com/fs/pmax_osf1 |
| pmax_osf1.bin | /.../abc.com/fs/pmax_osf1/bin |
| pmax_osf1.etc | /.../abc.com/fs/pmax_osf1/etc |
| rs_aix32 | /.../abc.com/fs/rs_aix32 |
| rs_aix32.bin | /.../abc.com/fs/rs_aix32/bin |
| rs_aix32.etc | /.../abc.com/fs/rs_aix32/etc |