The state of the classic NFS filesystem
Whither NFS
The NFS network filesystem has served Unix and Linux networks for many years, but the demise of NFS inventor Sun Microsystems as an independent company has thrust NFS into a creative crisis. Will this veteran from the early days of Unix find the strength to rise again?
Ever since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the development of the once-omnipresent Unix network filesystem NFS has slowed considerably. Competitors such as Samba, and a new class of distributed network storage solutions, are competing with NFS for mindshare and market share within the open source community. Has NFS gone away? Not really, but it could surely use a burst of energy to regain some of the momentum it has lost to competitors.
NFS development is now the responsibility of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The current NFS version is number 4.1, which is described in RFC 5661 [1]. (RFC 5661 dates back to 2010, which gives an indication of the current level of development activity.)
The current Linux implementations [2] consist of several parts. The NFS server, the NFS filesystem, and the Sun remote procedure call (RPC) are part of the Linux kernel. Today, admins will only want to deal with NFSv4. The NFSv3 architecture from the Unix heyday is not fit for today's security landscape (Figure 1); for instance, NFSv3 handles authentication client-side, blindly trusting in its security.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.