NFS Services Administrator's Guide

Installing the NFS Services
Overview of the NFS Services
Chapter 118
Overview of the NFS Services
Hewlett-Packard’s NFS Services include the following:
• Network File System (NFS) provides transparent access to files
from anywhere on the network. An NFS server makes a directory
available to other hosts on the network by “exporting” the directory.
An NFS client provides access to the NFS server’s directory by
“mounting” the directory. To users on the NFS client, the directory
looks like part of the local file system. For information on configuring
and administering NFS, see “Configuring and Administering NFS”
on page 21.
• Network Information Service (NIS) allows centralized
management of common configuration files, like /etc/passwd,
/etc/hosts, and /etc/services. An NIS “master server” holds
master copies of the configuration files, or “maps”. The master server
may distribute copies of the maps to NIS “slaves servers” to provide
load balancing and reliability. An NIS client gets configuration
information from the master server or a slave server instead of from
its local configuration files. (Some local configuration files, like
/etc/passwd and /etc/group, can be used in addition to the NIS
maps.) For more information, see “Configuring and Administering
NIS” on page 145.
• Network Information Service Plus (NIS+) is the next generation
of NIS. Like NIS, it provides centralized management of common
configuration files. Unlike NIS, it allows you to create multiple
domains in a hierarchical structure called a “namespace.” It also has
enhanced security features. It allows you to update the NIS+
databases from any client host in the network without having to log
into the master server. For more information, see “Configuring and
Administering NIS+” on page 199.
• Network Lock Manager and Network Status Monitor
(rpc.lockd and rpc.statd) provide file locking and synchronized file
access to files that are shared with NFS. Files may be locked with
lockf or fcntl. For more information, see the following man pages:
lockd(1M), statd(1M), lockf(2), and fcntl(2).
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is the mechanism that allows NFS
clients and NFS servers to communicate. You can write your own
RPC applications, using rpcgen, an RPC compiler that simplifies