What Is Network File System (NFS)?
Search Enterprise Desktop, February 22nd, 2023
Network File System (NFS) is a networking protocol for distributed file sharing. A file system defines the way data in the form of files is stored and retrieved from storage devices, such as hard disk drives, solid-state drives and tape drives. NFS is a network file sharing protocol that defines the way files are stored and retrieved from storage devices across networks.
The NFS protocol defines a network file system, originally developed for local file sharing among Unix systems and released by Sun Microsystems in 1984. The NFS protocol specification was first published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an internet protocol in RFC 1094 in 1989. The current version of the NFS protocol is documented in RFC 7530, which documents the NFS version 4 (NFSv4) Protocol.
NFS enables system administrators to share all or a portion of a file system on a networked server to make it accessible to remote computer users. Clients with authorization to access the shared file system can mount NFS shares, also known as shared file systems. NFS uses Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) to route requests between clients and servers.