Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!ISI.EDU!braden
From: braden@ISI.EDU (Bob Braden)
Newsgroups: mod.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re:  Need information on NFS
Message-ID: <8612181912.AA00269@braden.isi.edu>
Date: Thu, 18-Dec-86 14:12:59 EST
Article-I.D.: braden.8612181912.AA00269
Posted: Thu Dec 18 14:12:59 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Dec-86 02:40:35 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 26
Approved: tcp-ip@sri-nic.arpa

Gitchang,

The problem of Internet standard(s) for network file systems has been
receiving some attention, but probably less than it deserves.  Within the
formal Internet R&D structure, the issue falls within the scope of the
End-to-End Protocols task force, which has been considering what steps
need to be taken.

Sun's NFS is a "defacto standard" (I dislike that term, which appears to
be internally contradictory) for Unix systems.   Internet protocols 
must be designed to handle the entire spectrum of operating systems in
the world, not just Unix, and considerable work will be needed on NFS
to generalize it outside the Unix world.  It is unclear at this time
whether that generalization will result in anything useful to either 
Unix or any other systems.  In principle, there is a collaboration
between Sun and the End-to-End Protocols Taskforce to pursue this
question, but in practice little progress has been made.

If there were a set of people who could say, "we have some knowledge 
and/or experience in the network file system area, and we want to
devote some effort to the definition of an Internet standard
network file system", things would happen a lot faster (with or
without SUN's active participation).

Bob Braden