NFS Services Administrator's Guide

Configuring and Administering NFS
Configuring and Administering an NFS Client
Chapter 240
Disadvantage: If a
directory is configured
to be standard-
mounted when your
system boots, and the
NFS server for the
directory is not booted
yet, your system will
hang until the NFS
server becomes
available. If your
system and the server
are configured to
mount directories from
each other at boot time,
standard mounts can
cause both systems to
hang indefinitely.
Advantage: A directory
automounted with
AutoFS is not mounted
until a user or process
requests access to it, so
both your system and the
NFS server will have
time to boot before any
attempt is made to
mount the directory.
Advantage: A directory
automounted with
Automounter is not
mounted until a user or
process requests access
to it, so both your
system and the NFS
server will have time to
boot before any attempt
is made to mount the
directory.
Disadvantage: The
configuration file for
standard mounts
(/etc/fstab) must be
maintained separately
on each NFS client.
Advantage: AutoFS
configuration files (maps)
may be managed
centrally through NIS or
NIS+.
Advantage:
Automounter
configuration files
(maps) may be managed
centrally through NIS
or NIS+.
Table 2-1 Standard-Mounted vs. Automounted Directories (Continued)
Standard-Mounted
Directory
Automounted
Directory (using
AutoFS)
Automounted
Directory (using
Automounter)