Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to distributed
namespace aggregation. In aspects, a distributed file system is extended
to allow multiple servers to seamlessly host files associated with
aggregated links and/or aggregated roots. A request for a directory
listing of an aggregated link or root may cause a server to sniff
multiple other servers that host files associated with the link or root
to create and return a concatenated result. Sniffing may also be used to
determine which servers host the file to which the client is requesting
access. Altitude may be used to determine which servers to make visible
to the client and may also be used to determine which servers are in the
same replica group and which are not.