Typically, the DCS systems log in as DCSCR or DCSPR to the Novell file server with no password. Generally all transactions take place through the \DCS directory on the server, except one special case, Audio Central Plus or ACP. In this case, we have a special module called DCSNLM which loads on the server and controls the transfer of files, and audio files are stored and can be streamed from the server.

A file called the CARTMASK.LST is stored on the server in the audio volume with a mask to sort certain files that you designate for ACP use. Generally we have a mask for each category like 0??? or A??? or {???. This determines two things: whether ACP will be responsible for the cart and which DCS nodes the cart is copied to for local backup.

If a cart is made available to a node but not marked for backup, then it will stream or play from the server when requested by that system. Sometimes changes are made to the CARTMASK.LST and stations that were flagged for local backup are removed from the backup category. When this happens the server will cause DCS to rename the locally backup from .DAF to .CDB. This is done for security in case the server lost a drive in the audio volume, we don't just start deleting locally backed up files. Generally, if the system is working properly, all the .CDB carts can be safely deleted as the are ignored by the system. If you had experienced damage to the server, and lost audio, these files can be used to restore missing carts by RENaming them to .DAF and copying them back to the server.

If a cart is not listed in the CARTMASK.LST, then the system treats that cart like a distributed cart. It does not copy the file to the server but it still can be played from the local drive. It would not convert to a .CDB if the server had a problem. Since it is treated as a distributed cart, it can only be edited or deleted from the station where it was created. This is unlike ACP carts which can be edited on all workstations that they distributed. Novell servers also support the SALVAGE command. This is run from the \public directory on the server and can be used to recover recently deleted files. Novell keeps all the old files you delete until it runs out of space. Then it over writes them from the oldest to the most recent. This way you can usually recover anything if you don't wait too long.

To summarize: you can safely delete .CDB files if everything is working. If you recently had problems, check your inventory before deleting .CDB files as they may be good audio files, .DAF, that no longer exist on the server. If the server is still working and you need to recover deleted files, you can also use the SALVAGE utility to get them back. If you loose the audio volume on a server, the .CDB may be the only copy left of your missing audio.