In this introductory NFS blog post, let me provide you with an overview of Server for NFS feature implementation in Windows Server 2012. Native NFS support with Windows Server started with Windows Server 2003 R2 and has evolved over time with continuous enhancement in terms of functionality, performance, and manageability.
Windows Server 2012 takes the support for the Server for NFS feature to a new level. The following are some of the highlights:
1. NFSv4.1 support : Support for the latest NFS version 4.1 is one of the major highlights with Windows Server 2012. All the mandatory aspects of RFC 5661 are implemented. NFSv4.1 protocol provides enhanced security, performance, and interoperability over NFSv3.
2. Outoftheboxperformance : Byutilizingthenew nativeRPC-XDRtransportinfrastructure, optimalNFSperformancecanbeexpectedrightoutoftheboxwithouthavingtotuneanyparameters. Thisfeatureprovidesauto-tunedcacheandthreadpools along with dynamic resource management basedontheworkload. FailoverpathswithinNFSserverhavebeentunedforbetterperformance.
3. Easier deployment and manageability : Improvements are made on many fronts in terms of ease of deployment and manageability. To name a few:
a. 40+ Windows PowerShellcmdletsforeasierNFSconfiguration, managementofshares
b. Betteridentitymappingwithlocalflatfilemappingstore and Windows PowerShell cmdlets
c. Simplergraphicaluserinterface
d. NewWMIv2provider
e. RPCportmultiplexer (port2049) for firewall-friendliness
4. NFSv3 availability improvements : Fast failovers with new per-physical disk resource and tuned failover paths within NFS server. Network Status Monitor (NSM) notifications are sent out after a failover so that clients no longer need to wait for TCP timeouts to reconnect. This essentially means that NFSv3 clients can have fast and transparent failovers with more uptime (reduced downtime).
In summary, Windows Server 2012 delivers improvements in terms of ease of deployment, scalability, stability, availability, reliability, security and interoperability. Shares can be simultaneously accessed over SMB & NFS protocols. All these allow you to deploy Windows Server 2012 as a file server or a storage server in any demanding cross-platform environments.
We will be following-up with a number of detailed blog posts addressing the above listed features, which highlight Server for NFS feature and interoperability scenarios in Windows Server. So, stay tuned..
By the way, you can reach NFS/Windows related blogs using the URL http://aka.ms/nfs
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