NFS Version 3 Design and Implementation
Brian Pawlowski, Chet Juszczak, Peter Staubach, Carl H. Smith, Diane Lebel, David Hitz · 1994
This paper describes a new version of the Network File System (NFS) that supports access to files larger than 4GB and increases sequential write throughput sevenfold when compared to unaccelerated NFS Version 2. NFS Version 3 maintains the stateless server design and simple crash recovery of NFS Version 2, and the philosophy of building a distributed file service from cooperating protocols. We describe the protocol and its implementation, and provide initial performance measurements. We then describe the implementation effort. Finally, we contrast this work with other distributed file systems and discuss future revisions of NFS. 1. Introduction "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Roosevelt, 1932 The NFS protocol is a collection of remote procedures that allow a client to transparently access files stored on a server [Joy84a]. It is independent of architecture [RFC1014], operating system, netw...