NFS over WAN

[Mike Ingram_1]

I am planning to do an nfs mount between an HP and a Digital Alpha. One system is in the US and the other in Australia, and they are connected through the company's WAN.
This was done in the past, with poor results, but I need to do it again.

Can anyone offer any advice on this topic?
Or point me to any documentation, particularly regarding stability and security.

Many thanks.

[Muthukumar_5]

You can choose NFS. If both machines are reachable then, give access to specific remote nfs client machine only.

Which machine is going to be NFS server. Is it hpux or Digital Alpha?

I am not sure about performance bcas of WAN network. You've mentioned about poor results? can you share what it is?

hth.

[Arunvijai_4]

Yes, you can do it via WAN. Many organizations are doing this.. For security, you can use LDAP.

-Arun

[Arunvijai_4]

Some good links to read,

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid5_gci1065266,00.html
http://www.sunmanagers.org/archives/1996/1727.html

-Arun

[RAC_1 · Accepted solution]

NFS over WAN link and that too over two continents is going to be great setup unless wan link is stable and used to the optimum.

From stability point of view, first check who is going to be a nfs server and who is going to be a nfs client. You need to take into consideration the nfs versions that both machines are going to use. Latest hp-ux versions use nfs version 3. Once you match the version, you need to figure out the criticality and importance of data that will be shared. Depending upon that you may go for udp or tcp based protocol for nfs. In case of udp, you can increase the biod damons value to suit your requirements.

Search the forums for Dave Olker's post and look for the PDF-"nfs performance"

For security, you need to start with controlling the access in /etc/exports file. give access to particular hosts (-access otions for shares) and correct perms (user-wise file system perms) Aprt from this, if both OS allows and support secure NFS, you can go for it. With latest NFS versions on hp-ux you can control the port over which it will communicate.

[Fred Kashtiban]

Mike, Have you heard about EFS WAN Accelerator? WAN Accel is the hp long dist solution. that's what you need. Here is the links for you. let me know what do you think.

http://3so.gr.hp.com/wan/
http://riverbed.com/