Services for Network File System

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Services for Network File System (NFS) provides a file sharing solution for enterprises that have a mixed Windows® and UNIX environment. With Services for NFS, you can transfer files between computers running the Windows Server® 2008 operating system and the UNIX operating system using the NFS protocol.

Who will be interested in this feature?

Services for NFS is intended for use by IT professionals who need a way to share data to users in heterogeneous or homogeneous environments. Its scalable design makes Services for NFS appropriate for large enterprises.

Are there any special considerations?

You must be a member of the Administrators group to administer Services for NFS.

What functionality has been removed?

To streamline and simplify Services for NFS, the following features were removed for Windows Server 2008:

  • Gateway for NFS

  • Server for Personal Computer Network File System (PCNFS)

  • All PCNFS components of Client for NFS

  • User Name Mapping (server role)

What new functionality does this feature provide?

Services for NFS includes the following improvements:

  • Active Directory Lookup. Identity management for the UNIX Active Directory schema extension includes UNIX user identifier (UID) and group identifier (GID) fields. This enables Server for NFS and Client for NFS to look up Windows-to-UNIX user account mappings directly from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Identity management for UNIX simplifies Windows-to-UNIX user account mapping management in AD DS.

  • 64-bit version support. You can install Services for NFS components on all Windows Server 2008 operating systems, including 64-bit versions.

  • Enhanced server performance. Services for NFS includes a file filter driver, which significantly reduces common file access latencies.

  • UNIX special device support. Services for NFS supports UNIX special devices (the mknod function).

  • Enhanced UNIX support. Services for NFS supports the following versions of UNIX: Sun Microsystems Solaris version 9, Red Hat Linux version 9, IBM AIX version 5L 5.2, and Hewlett Packard HP-UX version 11i.

Additional references

For information about other features in File Services, see the File Services Role topic.