NFS Best Practices

beepy@netapp.com

The problem
Implementations arising
Document best practices where choice exists
Document behaviour where protocol spec is
silent

Moving drafts forward

Pruning and bug fixing

Way behind

Target is implementation table

Feature choices by implemention
Sample tables to follow are incomplete
Need to work with implementers to document

Security
Solaris

AIX

EMC

BSD

NetApp

Hummingbird

Linux

Server
client

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes

Server
Client

Server
Client

LIPKEY

No

No

No

No

No

No

Partial

Kerberos

Auth
Integ
Privacy

n/a

ACLs

Auth
Integ
Privacy

ACL description is complex - along lines of

interpretation - Posix vs. NFS V4
For Linux server, say, dependent on underlying
OS

Delegations
Solaris

AIX

EMC

BSD

NetApp

Hummingbird

Linux

Read

Server
Client

n/a

n/a

n/a

Server

N/a

Server
Client

Write

Server
Client

N/a

N/a

N/a

Server

N/a

Server
Client

Client has choices of behaviour on delegation

Ignore
Manage data, lock over wire
Close files, retain delegation

Named attributes
Avail
#
supported
Size
Limit

Solaris

AIX

EMC

BSD

NetApp

Hummingbird

Linux

Server
Client

n/a

n/a

n/a

Server

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

None

N/a

N/a

N/a

None

N/a

???

Behaviour is loosely defined in RFC

Magic numbers
Solaris

AIX

EMC

BSD

NetAp
p

Hummingbird

Linux

90 secs

n/a

n/a

n/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

Max
delegations

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

Max sz
COMPOUND

N/a

N/a

N/a

N/a

None

N/a

N/a

Lease timeout

# of operations, max size of COMPOUND request

Miscellaneous
@sun.com domain attributed Ids, UID
space considerations
Does client react to migration feedback
What minor versions (in future) supported

Terra incognita
What is not defined by protocol
Global name space
And more?

Any issues with moving from

NFS Version 3 to NFS Version 4?
It depends on what the definition of
transparent is

Questions
Much more work here