System Administration Guide, Volume I

Deciding How to Mount File Systems

Table 26-3 provides guidelines on mounting file systems based on how you use them.

Table 26-3 Determining How to Mount File Systems


If You Need to Mount ...	Then You Should Use ...
Local or remote file systems infrequently	The `mount` command entered manually from the command line.
Local file systems frequently	The `/etc/vfstab` file, which will mount the file system automatically when the system is booted in multi-user state.
Remote file systems frequently, such as home directories	The `/etc/vfstab` file, which will automatically mount the file system when the system is booted in multi-user state. AutoFS, which will automatically mount or unmount the file system when you change into (mount) or out of (unmount) the directory. To enhance performance, you can also cache the remote file systems by using CacheFS.

You can mount a CD-ROM containing a file system by simply inserting it into the drive (Volume Management will automatically mount it). You can mount a diskette containing a file system by inserting it into the drive and running the volcheck command. See Part IV for more information.