Network File System (NFS)
| Depends on | Filing System |
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With a suitable protocol, a reference to a file can be diverted into an exchange of messages on a client-server basis. A machine which is acting as an NFS server can thus make some (or all) of its local files available to remote machines.
Although it is convenient to think of a client-server relationship in a given transaction, NFS provides both services, so machines can share as peers.
In a Unix(-like) system, some parts of ‘remote’ file trees will be mounted into the local machine’s file hierarchy. These do not, of course, have to appear in the same place in every machine (although it is tidier not to make every machine different!). A local example would be your University ‘home’ file-store which needs to appear on whichever machine you choose to sit at.
On the other hand some files – such as most commonly used binaries – are kept on a local disk (i.e. copied onto every machine) … for reasons which should be obvious if you think about it.
Not all the machines on a network will run the same operating system. Thus it is not always possible to support every facility which may be available locally, although most modern filing systems have a great deal of commonality.
| Also refer to: | Operating System Concepts, 10th Edition: Chapter 15.8, pages 610-615 |
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