ABCs of z/OS System Programming Volume 3 - IBM Redbooks

4.52 z/OS Network File System (z/OS NFS)
AIX
UNIX
Sun Solaris
HP/UX
(z/OS NFS)
Other NFS
Client and
Servers
Figure 4-63 DFSMS Network File System
z/OS Network File System (z/OS NFS)
The z/OS Network File System is a distributed file system that enables users to access UNIX
files and directories that are located on remote computers as though they were local. NFS is
independent of machine types, operating systems, and network architectures. Use the NFS
for file serving (as a data repository) and file sharing between platforms supported by z/OS.
Clients and servers
A client is a computer or process that requests services in the network. A server is a
computer or process that responds to a request for service from a client. A user accesses a
service, which allows the use of data or other resources.
Figure 4-63 illustrates the client-server relationship:
► The upper center portion shows the DFSMS NFS address space server; the lower portion
shows the DFSMS NFS address space client.
► The left side of the figure shows various NFS clients and servers that can interact with the
DFSMS NFS server and client.
► In the center of the figure is the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
network used to communicate between clients and servers.
With the NFS server, you can remotely access z/OS conventional data sets or z/OS UNIX
files from workstations, personal computers, and other systems that run client software for the
192 ABCs of z/OS System Programming Volume 3
TCP/IP
Network
z/OS
DFSMS
NETWORK
FILE
SYSTEM
SERVER
z/OS
DFSMS
NETWORK
FILE
SYSTEM
CLIENT
AMS
OMVS
MVS Data Sets
Hierarchical File
System