This chapter provides an overview of the network file system (NFS) service, which can be used to access file systems over the network. The NFS service enables any system to access any other systems's file systems. A system can assume the role of client, server, or both, at any particular time on a network. Autofs is a client-side service used to mount the file systems that are shared through the NFS service. Autofs is a file system structure that provides automatic mounting. The chapter includes a discussion of the concepts necessary to understand the NFS service and a description of the latest features in NFS and autofs.
This chapter contains the following topics: