Network filesystem

The evolution of computer networks and network protocols made remote file sharing possible. This gave rise to the concept of distributed computing and client-server architectures, which can be referred to as distributed filesystems. The idea was to store data on a central location on one or more servers. There are multiple clients that request access to this data through different programs and protocols. This includes protocols such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). The use of these programs makes it possible to transfer data between two machines.

As compared to any traditional filesystem, a filesystem that uses the distributed approach will require some additional elements for its functioning. We’ve seen that processes make use of the generic system call layer to issue read or write requests. In the case of conventional filesystems, both the process (which issues the request) and the storage (which serves that request...