The network file system (NFS) protocol is getting its biggest overhaul in more than a decade, and the results could be profound for end users. Version 4.1 of NFS, developed by a team of veterans from various storage interests, promises to unlock new performance and security capabilities, particularly for enterprise data centers. NFS was originally […]
Datamation content and product recommendations are
editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links
to our partners.
Learn More
The network file system (NFS) protocol is getting its biggest overhaul in more than a decade, and the results could be profound for end users.
Version 4.1 of NFS, developed by a team of veterans from various storage interests, promises to unlock new performance and security capabilities, particularly for enterprise data centers.
NFS was originally designed to solve the problem of remote access to home directories and supporting diskless workstations and servers over local area networks. With the advent of cheaper high-performance computing in the form of Linux compute clusters, multi-core processors and blades, the demands for higher performance file access have risen sharply. It’s no wonder that a protocol designed for 1984 speeds would be unable to cope.
“NFS is getting pressure from clustered file systems like Lustre and GPFS, as well as custom file systems produced by Web 2.0 service providers such as Google GFS,” said Mike Eisler, senior technical director at NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP).
The latest makeover to this time-honored distributed file system protocol provides all the same features as before: straightforward design, simplified error recovery, and independence of transport protocols and operating systems for file access. Unlike earlier versions of NFS, however, it now integrates file locking, has stronger security, and includes delegation capabilities to enhance client performance for data sharing applications on high-bandwidth networks.
pNFS Changes the Storage World
pNFS is a key feature of NFS 4.1. The p in pNFS stands for parallel, and pNFS will provide parallel I/O to file systems accessible over NFS. It enables the storage administrator to do things like stripe a single file across multiple NFS servers. This is equivalent to RAID 0, which boosts performance by allowing multiple disk drives to serve up data in parallel. pNFS takes the concept and extends it to multiple storage devices connected to the NFS client over a network.
“Even for files too small to stripe, those files can be distributed across multiple NFS servers, which provides statistical load balancing,” said Eisler. “With a capable cluster of NFS servers and a back-end file system, files or ranges within files can be relocated transparent to the applications accessing data over pNFS.”
This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.
-
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
-
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
-
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
-
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
-
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
-
Top 10 AIOps Companies
FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
-
What is Text Analysis?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
-
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
-
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
-
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
-
Top 10 Chatbot Platforms
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
-
Finding a Career Path in AI
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
-
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
-
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
-
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
-
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
-
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
-
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
-
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
-
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020
SEE ALL
ARTICLES
Drew Robb is a contributing writer for Datamation, Enterprise Storage Forum, eSecurity Planet, Channel Insider, and eWeek. He has been reporting on all areas of IT for more than 25 years. He has a degree from the University of Strathclyde UK (USUK), and lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.