27.0 Sharing File Systems with NFS
Distributing and sharing file systems over a network is a common task in
corporate environments. NFS is a proven system
that also works together with the yellow pages protocol
NIS. For a more secure protocol that works
together with LDAP and may also be kerberized,
check NFSv4.
NFS works with NIS to make a network transparent to the user. With NFS, it
is possible to distribute arbitrary file systems over the network. With an
appropriate setup, users always find themselves in the same environment
regardless of the terminal they currently use.
Like NIS, NFS is a client/server system. However, a machine can be
both—it can supply file systems over the network (export) and mount
file systems from other hosts (import).
IMPORTANT: Need for DNS
In principle, all exports can be made using IP addresses only. To avoid
time-outs, you should have a working DNS system. This is necessary at
least for logging purposes, because the mountd daemon does reverse
lookups.
