Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!dptg!ulysses!andante!mit-eddie!wuarchive!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!grian!steve
From: steve@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Steve Mitchell)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: (PC) NFS on floppy-only PC's
Message-ID: <1990Nov17.215449.29846@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us>
Date: 17 Nov 90 21:54:49 GMT
References: <1990Nov14.141703.2241@seachg.uucp>
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
Lines: 73

jalsop@seachg.uucp (John Alsop) writes:

>Most of the (PC) NFS installations I know of (not that many!) have the 
>individual PC's equipped with a hard disk, and use the NFS server mainly
>for data storage as opposed to program storage.

>What are people's experience with using NFS on floppy-only PC's i.e. use the
>NFS server in place of a local hard disk on the PC, for both program and
>data storage?

This is how we run our net here at College Park Software.  The PClone
boots off a floppy, brings up the net, and runs thereafter from a Sun
fileserver. 

>This type of approach would appear to have some advantages in terms of
>cost, and in avoiding the proliferation of local copies of files.

Another major advantage for us is each user has only one home
directory across the net.  We have a small heterogeneous network, and
each user uses each of the machines (either remotely or locally) for
different purposes.  With a unified network file system, you don't
need to worry about file synchronization.

>Is this a reasonable strategy to follow if planning a new PC
installation?

Maybe, depending on the local situation.  It makes sense here.

>What sorts of problems occur?  

Normal system integration problems.  We've had a devil of a time
getting Windows 3 to coexist peacefully with a TCP/IP & NFS network.
I _think_ we've got it licked now...  The real problem is that PC
OS software still has a long ways to go before I consider it a real
(as opposed to toy) operating system.

>How well does this approach scale up as the number of PC's increases?

That will depend on your software/hardware configuration.  If you're
running Win3 in enhanced mode (or other virtual memory applications)
on memory-poor PClones, you may have problems trying to page across
the net as the network traffic builds up.  Same sort of problems we've
always had with networks of workstations.  Also depends on the power
and sophistication of the client and server software.  As I
understand, most PC NFS implementations do not fully support the Sun
lock protocol, which could cause problems in a large network.

>Any recommendations as to specific vendor implementations for the
> (PC) NFS side?  

We like Beame & Whiteside's NFS.  Carl Beame has given us very good
support.  

> Is it possible to do the above with diskless PC's (not even a
floppy)?

Don't know.  Some ethernet cards do accomodate network boot roms.

>All responses appreciated.  I will post a summary in a week or so.

>-- 
>John Alsop

>Sea Change Corporation
>6695 Millcreek Drive, Unit 8
>Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5N 5R8
>Tel: 416-542-9484 Fax: 416-542-9479
>UUCP: ...!uunet!attcan!seachg!jalsop
-- 
		-  Steve Mitchell	steve@cps.altadena.ca.us
					grian!steve@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov
					ames!elroy!grian!steve
"God is licht, an in him there is nae mirkness ava." -- 1 John 1:5