Network File System Version 4
charter-ietf-nfsv4-04

NFS Version 4 is the IETF standard for file sharing. To maintain NFS
Version 4's utility and currency, the working group is chartered to (1)
maintain the existing NFSv4, NFSv4.1 and related specifications, such
as RPC and XDR, (2) progress these specifications along the standards
track, (3) develop a protocol to create a federated namespace using
NFSv4's existing referral mechanisms.

(1) NFS version 4.0 maintenance

Under this charter item, the WG correct errors and ambiguities in the
protocol currently specified in RFC 3530 and advances it along the
standards track. Extensions of any other kind are out of scope under
this charter item.

(2) NFS Version 4.1 Maintenance

As with NFSv4.0, the WG will address errors or ambiguities in the
NFSv4.1 protocol and related specifications in support of progressing
implementations.

(3) RPC and XDR protocol maintenance

The NFSv4 protocol depends on two related specifications: ONC
RPC and XDR. Similar to charter item (1), the WG may correct errors and
ambiguities in the ONC RPC and XDR protocols currently specified by RFCs
1831, 1833 and 2203. In conjunction with the advancement of the NFSv4
specification along the standards track, the WG will also work on the
advancements of its ONC RPC and XDR dependencies. The WG will also
update the ONC RPC specification for compatibility with IPv6.
Additionally, it will create an IANA registry for RPC program numbers
and seed it with a registry Sun has been maintaining.

(4) Federated Namespace

The NFSv4 protocol provides a referral mechanism that allows a
server to redirect a client to another server. The working group
will produce documents describing a mechanism for creating a federated
namespace (single global name space for a set of NFSv4 servers)
using the NFSv4 protocol's referral capabilities. The file system
federation protocol will enable file access and namespace traversal
across collections of independently administered fileservers. No
modifications will be made to the NFS client to server protocol.