^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[[struct-lustre-handle]]
-A Lustre handle is an opaque cookie that identifies some local object
-(e.g. connection, open file, DLM lock, etc) to another node or another
-layer in the software stack.
+A 'lustre_handle' is an opaque cookie that identifies some local object
+to another node or another layer in the software stack. It is not the
+physical address of the data structure in memory to avoid memory
+corruption in case the object has been freed, but rather a cookie in a
+lookup table that provides a layer of indirection that can safely
+determine if the object still exists or not.
+
+A 'lustre_handle' can identify a variety of different types of objects,
+such as client-target connections, open file handles, DLM lock handles,
+etc. The meaning of the handle is dependent on the context in which it
+is used.
----
struct lustre_handle {
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