Installable File System Mechanism

The OS/2 Installable File System (IFS) Mechanism supports the following: 

oCoexistence of multiple, active file systems in a single PC 
oMultiple logical volumes (partitions) 
oMultiple and different storage devices 
oRedirection or connection to remote file systems 
oFile system flexibility in managing its data and I/O for optimal 
performance 
oTransparency at both the user and application level 
oStandard set of File I/O API 
oExisting logical file and directory structure 
oExisting naming conventions 
oFile system doing its own buffer management 
oFile system doing file I/O without intermediate buffering 
oExtensions to the Standard File I/O API (FSCTL) 
oExtensions to the existing naming conventions 
oIOCTL type of communication between a file system and a device driver