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