NFS Server Functionality
Network File System (NFS) enables UNIX users to access a NetWare file system as if it were a local directory on the UNIX workstation. Any client that supports the NFS protocol can also access NetWare files using the NFS Server. This section describes the following topics,
This section uses the UNIX operating system as the example when referring to the remote NFS client. The following figure shows an example of the NFS Server file sharing process.
Figure 1
NFS Server Functionality
The NFS Server uses the following files:
Before UNIX users can access the NetWare file system, it must be made available to the UNIX workstations. This process is called exporting the file system. When exporting, you can define who should access the information and how it is accessed by specifying the trusted systems and export options. For example, you can restrict the access to specific UNIX workstations, export the directory as Read-only, etc.
After exporting the NetWare file system from a NetWare server, mount the exported file system on the UNIX workstation for normal access. This process is called mounting the file system. Mounting a NetWare file system from a UNIX workstation consists of the following:
A mount point is an empty directory you create. This directory becomes the access point for the NetWare file system. On selecting an existing directory as a mount point, the contents of the existing directory become unavailable until unmounting the remote file system.
Most UNIX systems use the MOUNT command to mount a remote file system.
After these steps are complete, UNIX users can access the NetWare file system by accessing the local mount point. Different UNIX systems can use slightly different commands or user interfaces to mount a remote file system.
The Web-NFS component of the NFS software enables direct Web access to data on NFS servers. It defines a new NFS URL that complements HTTP. The format is as follows:
NFS://Hostname or IP Address
Using this URL, browsers with Web-NFS support can access data from any server.
Web-NFS extends NFS to support operations over a WAN. With Web-NFS, clients can obtain file handles more easily without going through the portmapper or the mount protocols. This makes it firewall-friendly and enables NFS operations across WANs and the Internet. It also improves performance over a WAN by reducing the number of turnarounds.
For each NFS server, only one of the exported paths can be enabled for Web-NFS access.
NetWare and UNIX use different methods for controlling access to files. Although both have similar directory and file security, NetWare security is more elaborate. At a basic level, both systems assign access controls to similar user types.
The access control mode is known as Independent Mode wherein there are no rights/permissions mappings. NFS Client rights apply to NFS client access and NetWare rights apply to NetWare client access.
For information about NFS Server configuration and management, see NFS Server Configuration.