RFS Performance Info

[tim at nttor.uucp]

This is a posting from comp.unix.  I hope to get more of
a response here. ------------->

We are working on what is essentially an embedded system 
using VME hardware and Motorola's System V/68 (V.3).  We are 
considering using RFS to support interworking of 2 or 
more such systems.  I would like to get some feedback 
on how well RFS performs.  Specifically I would like to 
know:

1)	the relative performance of remote file access vs. 
	local file access using RFS

2)	how well does it recover (e.g. if a machine using a 
	directory mounted from another machine goes down, 
	does it come back up and reaccess the directory 
	without intervention and vice versa.)

3)	what happens if a client crashes while updating a 
	remote file

4)	synchronization of mountable resources; can a 
	mountable resource be found if the server comes up 
	after the client, without manual intervention

5)	what is the system overhead of using RFS

6)	the relative performance of using remote named pipes 
	vs. local named pipes

7)	the relative performance of using remote devices vs. 
	local devices

8)	any misc. pitfalls; things that don't work as 
	advertised; surprises

For instance, re 1), I have been told that remote file 
access using RFS is roughly 4 times slower than on a 
local disk (using the same hardware - MVME147 CPU, SCSI 
interface).  If you can recommend any books or 
periodical articles it would greatly appreciated as well. 

Tim Finnerty {lsuc,utzoo,mnetor}!dciem!nttor!tim
Northern Telecom, Toronto, Canada. (416) 598-0196 x2417