NFSv4 Test Project.

NFS Version 4 adds a number of powerful new features to address NFS shortcomings in security, migration, performance and other areas. In order to make NFSv4 the new industry standard for Linux, these features must be thoroughly and frequently tested to ensure they are functional, robust, efficient, and secure. The goals for testing NFSv4 on Linux are to make it more stable, more mature, more inter-operable with other NFS implementations, and to improve the entire ecosystem of software that interacts with NFS.

NFSv4 for Linux has been under development at CITI and NetApp since 2001. This Linux NFSv4 testing task force started in 2004 with participants from OSDL, Bull, IBM, Novell, and RedHat.

We show that, because NFSv4 is a complex and critical infrastructure service, the testing is both very important and very challenging. Our key strategy in achieving these goals has been a large and collaborative task force that focuses on different testing approaches, sharing results and working directly with the developers to validate fixes.

Development of Linux NFSv4 follows the Open Source "Release Early, Release Often" model. This means that new features for the Linux implementation of the NFSv4 protocol become available in the mainline kernel as soon as they're ready. Ultimately, the new features will enable or enhance a number of Use-Cases including high performance computing clusters, large scale render farms, massive corporate provisioning, and secure intranet and internet file sharing.

We present the tools used for testing NFSv4 and explain how they help to test integral features of NFSv4 in the areas of functionality, interoperability, robustness, performance, and security. Details will be given on new Locks, ACLs and limits tests.
  
OSDL's role is to facilitate this testing through establishing a testing community around Linux NFSv4. Initially, this involved planning activities such as collaborating with stakeholders in creation of a 'Test Matrix/Wiki' itemizing and prioritizing testing needs, and in providing opportunities for members of the community to meet and collaborate. Recently, OSDL's activities focus on participating in designing and running tests for regression and installation testing, and for checking configuration robustness.

Efforts to date have shown that NFSv4 reliability and performance have improved during the period late 2004 to the present day. The early regression testing has helped developers quickly isolate and fix defects. Bull's lab tests have put NFSv4 into high pressure situations, in LAN and WAN modes. Data has been gathered to compare NFSv4 with NFSv3 and Samba, and to show that it nicely inter-operates with other Unix NFSv4 implementations. The Bull NFSv4 test team's efforts have been successful in identifying some painful problems, like when testing on 64bits architectures.

When we compare the status of Linux NFSv4 today against where it was when we started in late 2004, we can see that the testing efforts have generated significant improvements in all the test areas and that the core of Linux NFSv4 is stable and powerful. Indeed, the NFSv4 infrastructure has attained quality standards which surpass NFSv3 in many cases and offers security levels that today's users are desperate for.

We conclude by presenting some hints about the future of NFSv4 protocol and of Linux NFSv4.