NFS Performance Tuning for HP-UX 11.0 and 11i Systems

nfs performance tuning for hp-ux 11.0 and 11i systems page 89

Notes:

Page 89July 22, 2002

nfs protocol version 2

vs.

nfs protocol version 3

• What are the differences

between NFS PV2 and

PV3?

• Will a PV3 client/server

always outperform a PV2

client/server?

• Should you use NFS PV2

or NFS PV3 in your

environment?

NFS, like most protocols, continues to evolve over time. The original version of

NFS (Protocol Version 1) existed only within Sun Microsystems and was never

released to the public. Protocol Version 2 (PV2) was implemented in 1984

(RFC1094) and it enjoyed a good deal of popularity as a file access protocol. As

time went by, some of the limitations imposed by the PV2 design necessitated the

development of its replacement – Protocol Version 3 (PV3) – which was introduced

in February1994 (RFC1813). This protocol offered many enhancements that made

it far superior to its predecessor. Most of these improvements deal specifically with

NFS performance.

This section discusses the many differences between NFS PV2 and NFS PV3 with

respect to performance. It describes several scenarios where a PV2 mountpoint

might actually outperform a PV3 mountpoint. It also explains the criteria for

deciding which NFS protocol is more appropriate to use in your environment.