Update on the NFS Version 4 Working Group (nfsv4) The NFS Version 4 working group has been active since 1998 and is tasked with the evolution and maintenance of the distributed file system protocol NFS (The Network File System) and associated protocols (RPC - Remote Procedure Call). NFS remains popular as a widely used open protocol for file sharing in a heterogeneous network. With further adoption being driven by emerging use cases of large scale data analytics and AI/ML that look to NFS to provide a shared large scale data store.
The NFSv4 working group is working on some significant updates to prior versions of NFS 4.1 / 4.2. A major effort led by Dave Noveck is to produce the 5661-bis document to provide much needed clarification and normative wording on the aforementioned protocol documents. We are clarifying and confirming consensus on several areas especially the ACL (Access Control List) specification and implementation requirements and identity specification. These changes are not expected to produce changes to the over-the-wire protocol, but to confirm expected usage and semantics of the current protocols. We are additionally handling enhancements related to file layout, RDMA mappings, and other related topics. We are also adding, courtesy of Christoph Hellwig, an NVME layout method to pNFS. pNFS is a protocol that allows NFS to be configured for high-performance scale-out are data applications. NFS itself accommodates new data paths/layout mechanisms without requiring a change to the core protocol itself. In addition to that terribly popular topic at the IETF of security (see above), the working group is revisiting Internationalization. Name representation in a distributed file system protocol is a tricky topic - ask the FTP people. But we’re up for the task. Mentioned above was the work on pNFS, which really is motivated by performance. Additionally we are looking at RDMA techniques to further exploit available or emerging technologies on high speed networks. We are always looking for new members - come check us out! — NFSv4 Working Group Chairs
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