ONCplus B.11.31.15 Release Notes (5992-5685, September 2012)

1 ONCplus Overview
This chapter addresses the following topics:
• “Overview” (page 4)
• “Availability of ONCplus as an ISU” (page 4)
• “NIS+ Obsolescence Notice” (page 5)
• “NIS Protocol Version 1 Obsolescence Notice” (page 5)
• “Related Information” (page 5)
Overview
Open Network Computing (ONC) comprises core services that enable administrators to implement
distributed applications in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. It also includes
tools to administer clients and servers.
ONC consists of the following components:
• Network File System
The Network File System (NFS) is a distributed filesystem that provides transparent access to
files and directories that are shared on remote systems.
• AutoFS
AutoFS is a client-side service that enables automatic mounting and unmounting of filesystems.
• CacheFS
The Cache Filesystem (CacheFS) is a general purpose filesystem caching mechanism that
improves the performance of client side applications when working with NFS servers. CacheFS
client performance is improved by caching data to a fast local file system instead of going
over the wire. Caching data results in reduced server and network load because the clients
have already cached a copy of the data and send fewer requests to the server.
• Network Information Service
Network Information Service (NIS), previously called “Yellow Pages,” is a distributed database
system that enables the maintenance of commonly used configuration information on a master
server and propagates the information to all the hosts in the network.
Availability of ONCplus as an ISU
Prior to the HP-UX 11i v3 release, ONC was delivered as a core product called NFS. Core products
cannot be released independent of the operating system. Any changes (defect fixes, for example)
to core products are only available to customers by installing HP-UX patches.
For HP-UX 11i v3, ONCplus is available as an Independent Software Unit (ISU). With the ONCplus
ISU, both defect fixes and new features are made available to customers by installing newer
versions of ONCplus.
The ONCplus ISU will be updated on an ongoing basis and will include the latest ONC updates
and defect fixes. When looking for ONC updates, you are encouraged to review the content of
the latest ONCplus ISU and consider updating to the most recent ONCplus ISU version.
NOTE: All ONCplus ISU versions are available at:
http://software.hp.com.
4 ONCplus Overview