[nfsv4] WG Review: Network File System Version 4 (nfsv4)

[The IESG <[e-mail]>]

The Network File System Version 4 (nfsv4) WG in the Transport Area of the
IETF is undergoing rechartering. The IESG has not made any determination yet.
The following draft charter was submitted, and is provided for informational
purposes only. Please send your comments to the IESG mailing list
([e-mail]) by 2020-07-27.

Network File System Version 4 (nfsv4)
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Current status: Active WG

Chairs:
  David Noveck <[e-mail]>
  Brian Pawlowski <[e-mail]>

Secretaries:
  Thomas Haynes <[e-mail]>

Assigned Area Director:
  Magnus Westerlund <[e-mail]>

Transport Area Directors:
  Magnus Westerlund <[e-mail]>
  Martin Duke <[e-mail]>

Technical advisors:
  Leif Johansson <[e-mail]>

Mailing list:
  Address: [e-mail]
  To subscribe: https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4
  Archive: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/nfsv4/

Group page: https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/nfsv4/

Charter: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/charter-ietf-nfsv4/

Network File System version 4 (NFSv4) is the IETF standard for file
sharing.

To maintain NFS Version 4's utility and currency, the NFSv4 working
group is chartered to maintain the existing NFSv4.0, NFSv4.1, and
NFSv4.2 protocols and specifications of related ONC components, such as
those defining RPC, XDR, and RPCSECGSS.

The NFSv4 working group is also responsible for maintenance and
extension of the RDMA protocols originally developed by the
now-concluded RDDP WG (RFCs 5040-5045, e.g., RDMAP, DDP and MPA) ,
whose maintenance and extension were previously handled by the
now-concluded STORM WG.

In addition, extensions will be developed, as necessary, to correct
problems with the protocols as currently specified, to accommodate
needed file system semantics, and to respond to technological
developments in the areas of networking and persistent storage/memory.

Maintenance

The working group's experience has been that, as NFSv4 implementations
mature and deployments continue, clarifications and corrections to
existing RFCs are needed.

These specification updates help vendors in delivering high-quality and
interoperable implementations.

The NFSv4 working group is chartered with vetting reported issues and
determining correctness of submitted errata.

In addition, some areas may need more concentrated work to correct the
specifications already published, to deal with unanticipated
interactions between features, or to respond to evolving expectations
with regard to areas such as security. Since necessary changes in such
cases are generally not appropriate for the errata system, the working
group will assist in publication of new RFCs that provide implementation
guidance, editorial modification or technical updates to existing RFCs.

Since the new NFSv4 versioning framework has been approved, these
technical updates to NFSv4 minor versions could include limited XDR
changes.

Extensions

The NFSv4 protocol is designed to allow extension by the definition of
new operations, new attributes, and new Parallel NFS layout types, as
well as the creation of minor versions.

Similarly, associated ONC protocol components that have a versioning/
extension framework can be incrementally extended, when necessary.

The working group will discuss proposals for such extensions and assure
that they have adequate technical review, including discussion of their
interaction with existing features, before adopting them as working
group items and helping to draft specification documents.

Some likely motivations for such extensions would be to:

 * Maximize NFS performance on advanced network fabrics.

 * Accommodate new storage technologies.

 * Provide facilities useful in management of NFS-accessed storage in
   large-scale virtualization environments.

 * Provide more effective NFS response to security challenges.

New milestones that fall within the scope specified in this charter can
be added to the list below after working group consensus and upon
approval by the responsible Area Director.

The WG will extend RDMA to enhance the Memory Placement operations
such as Flush, Atomic Write and Validation using Integrity Signatures.

Milestones:

  Mar 2021 - Request publication of RDMA Extensions for Enhanced Memory
  Placement