Re: [RFC 11/32] xfs: convert to struct inode_time

[Roger Willcocks <roger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2014-06-02 at 11:04 -0400, Chuck Lever wrote:

> NFSv2/3 timestamps are a pair of unsigned 32-bit values: one value for
> seconds since midnight GMT Jan 1, 1970, and one value for nanoseconds.
> (See the definition of nfstime3 in RFC 1813).
> 

nfstime3 could be extended by redefining the otherwise unused
nanoseconds bits{31,30} as seconds{33,32}, to give a (signed) 34-bit
seconds field and an unsigned 30-bit nanoseconds field.

This could represent 1970 +/- 272 years.

Servers could indicate they can understand the extended time format by
adding a new FSINFO capability - FSF3_CANSETTIME_EX.

Clients would use a new SET_TO_CLIENT_TIME_EX time_how enum when sending
timestamps so old servers would be protected from new clients.

Old clients don't need to be protected from new servers because the
on-the-wire bit pattern for dates between 1970 and 2106 stays the same,
so they're no worse off than they were before.

Arguably the new server ought to clamp out-of-range timestamps before
sending them to old clients but that would need per-client state (and
nfs3 is stateless.)

--
Roger