Advantages of NFS v4

The revision of the network is also accompanied by updates of some protocols. Here we will learn about NFS v4. Network File System (NFS v4) protocol, a set of industry standards for file sharing between NAS devices, can effectively improve network security mechanisms and WAN performance. Currently, this protocol is gradually gaining widespread support from more and more storage vendors.

According to Sun's Solaris Product Manager Bill Moffitt, the biggest advantage of NFS v4 is that it promotes the popularity of NFS industry standards in more users and applications, this allows users to enjoy "fast and secure public network file sharing ".

Compared with previous versions, NFS v4 does not only have more powerful "security performance" and "WAN performance" advantages. Other new features include: Integrating file lock and loading and installing mounting in one protocol; providing more powerful data replication and migration support; improves the support for file sharing on the Windows platform, and improves the Internet File Sharing performance, for example, TCP transmission protocol is supported, a global User Identifier namespace is defined, and operations that can be performed through the firewall are allowed.

Randy Kerns, a senior shareholder of Evaluator Group, based in Greenwood Village, Carolina, believes that the "file lock" feature is the most attractive improvement of NFS v4. The hard lock set in the Protocol) effectively prevents two applications from simultaneously accessing the same data, ensuring data integrity. "Narrowing the gap between NFS and CIFS locking is the biggest use of hard locks. This is of great significance for data sharing between different protocol layers, "Kerns said.

According to Moffitt, all the improvements of NFS v4 are based on the Internet Engineering Task Team (IETF)-a person responsible for R & D and development of Internet-related technical specifications such as NFS) international authoritative research organization-the user feedback collected. IETF members are mainly from Sun, NetApp, Hummingbird Communications Ltd. engineers and researchers from Linux and other companies, as well as technicians with many years of relevant experience and insights into the shortcomings of the existing NFS protocol.

Sun launched a Solaris 10 operating system supporting the NFS v4 protocol at the end of January this year. In addition, some Linux operating systems on the market now support this Protocol. It is worth mentioning that, polyServe and NetApp are currently working with CITI, the Information Technology Center of Michigan State University, to create an industry specification that applies the NFS v4 protocol to Linux operating environments. PolyServe is responsible for supporting NFS v4 on server devices, and NetApp is responsible for supporting NFS v4 on client devices.

Moffitt has repeatedly stressed that among the many improved features of NFS v4, "providing quick Internet File Sharing" is the biggest difference between it and previous versions. "NFS v3 only supports file sharing within the LAN, and v4 is a big step forward, sharing files with users all over the world through the Internet," Moffitt said.

According to a spokesman for Sun, there are still few people who know about NFS v4. However, the situation will change once Solaris 10 is widely used. "Before upgrading the operating system, most users prefer to try it for a while before deciding whether to abandon the old operating system ...... It is believed that next year, people will gradually accept it, "the spokesman said.