Distributed File Systems

Question 1

what is NFS (Network File System) and Sprite?

Answer 1

A DS that allows users on client machines to access files over a network as if they were on a local disk.

Question 2

Advantages and Disadvantages of NFS

Answer 2

A1. Uses Stateless Interaction as primary mechanism, Greater Robustness (can handle server crashes easily)
A2. NFS is simplier in design, due to stateless protocol.

D1. Weak Consistency (due to statelessness), does not keep track of which clients are using which files.
D2. Slower write operations due to stateless protocol.

Question 3

Advantages and Disadvantages of Sprite

Answer 3

A1. Better Performance via caching.
A2. More consistent view of files compared to NFS.Greater Consistency

D1. More complex implementation in managing the server’s state.
D2. Higher overhead due to maintaining state and cache consistency.