Delegation in NFS Version 4

NFS version 4 provides both client support and server support for delegation. Delegation is a technique by which the server delegates the management of a file to a client. For example, the server could grant either a read delegation or a write delegation to a client. Read delegations can be granted to multiple clients at the same time, because these read delegations do not conflict with each other. A write delegation can be granted to only one client, because a write delegation conflicts with any file access by any other client. While holding a write delegation, the client would not send various operations to the server because the client is guaranteed exclusive access to a file. Similarly, the client would not send various operations to the server while holding a read delegation. The reason is that the server guarantees that no client can open the file in write mode. The effect of delegation is to greatly reduce the interactions between the server and the client for delegated files. Therefore, network traffic is reduced, and performance on the client and the server is improved. Note, however, that the degree of performance improvement depends on the kind of file interaction used by an application and the amount of network and server congestion.

The decision about whether to grant a delegation is made entirely by the server. A client does not request a delegation. The server makes decisions about whether to grant a delegation, based on the access patterns for the file. If a file has been recently accessed in write mode by several different clients, the server might not grant a delegation. The reason is that this access pattern indicates the potential for future conflicts.

A conflict occurs when a client accesses a file in a manner that is inconsistent with the delegations that are currently granted for that file. For example, if a client holds a write delegation on a file and a second client opens that file for read or write access, the server recalls the first client's write delegation. Similarly, if a client holds a read delegation and another client opens the same file for writing, the server recalls the read delegation. Note that in both situations, the second client is not granted a delegation because a conflict now exists. When a conflict occurs, the server uses a callback mechanism to contact the client that currently holds the delegation. On receiving this callback, the client sends the file's updated state to the server and returns the delegation. If the client fails to respond to the recall, the server revokes the delegation. In such instances, the server rejects all operations from the client for this file, and the client reports the requested operations as failures. Generally, these failures are reported to the application as I/O errors. To recover from these errors, the file must be closed and then reopened. Failures from revoked delegations can occur when a network partition exists between the client and the server while the client holds a delegation.

Note that one server does not resolve access conflicts for a file that is stored on another server. Thus, an NFS server only resolves conflicts for files that it stores. Furthermore, in response to conflicts that are caused by clients that are running various versions of NFS, an NFS server can only initiate recalls to the client that is running NFS version 4. An NFS server cannot initiate recalls for clients that are running earlier versions of NFS.

The process for detecting conflicts varies. For example, unlike NFS version 4, because version 2 and version 3 do not have an open procedure, the conflict is detected only after the client attempts to read, write, or lock a file. The server's response to these conflicts varies also. For example:

• For NFS version 3, the server returns the JUKEBOX error, which causes the client to halt the access request and try again later. The client prints the message File unavailable.

• For NFS version 2, because an equivalent of the JUKEBOX error does not exist, the server makes no response, which causes the client to wait and then try again. The client prints the message NFS server not responding.

These conditions clear when the delegation conflict has been resolved.

By default, server delegation is enabled. You can disable delegation by modifying the /etc/default/nfs file. For procedural information, refer to How to Select Different Versions of NFS on a Server.

No keywords are required for client delegation. The NFS version 4 callback daemon, nfs4cbd, provides the callback service on the client. This daemon is started automatically whenever a mount for NFS version 4 is enabled. By default, the client provides the necessary callback information to the server for all Internet transports that are listed in the /etc/netconfig system file. Note that if the client is enabled for IPv6 and if the IPv6 address for the client's name can be determined, then the callback daemon accepts IPv6 connections.

The callback daemon uses a transient program number and a dynamically assigned port number. This information is provided to the server, and the server tests the callback path before granting any delegations. If the callback path does not test successfully, the server does not grant delegations, which is the only externally visible behavior.

Note that because callback information is embedded within an NFS version 4 request, the server is unable to contact the client through a device that uses Network Address Translation (NAT). Also, the callback daemon uses a dynamic port number. Therefore, the server might not be able to traverse a firewall, even if that firewall enables normal NFS traffic on port 2049. In such situations, the server does not grant delegations.