Planning an automount configuration

In a larger network (10 or more workstations), it may be desirable to ``distribute'' automount functionality using NIS (Network Information Service), particularly if you need:

• distributed home directories; this allows users to log in and use their home environment from any machine in an NIS domain

• redundant read-only filesystem access; this allows clients to mount the desired filesystem from the first server to respond

NIS-distributed automount maps can be modified on a per-client basis with local automount maps; for more information, see ``Creating local automount maps''. However, NIS management may not be justified if many clients have extensive local automount maps.

In smaller installations, where NIS management is unnecessary, it may be desirable to use automount when workstations double as NFS servers and clients. To optimize performance and user access, we recommend that you:

• identify all NFS-exported directories on your network and ascertain the frequency of use for each.

• if necessary, move directories to other servers to balance the remote mount load.

• decide which directories should be conventionally mounted and which automounted; record the decision in your system log.

• modify /etc/default/filesys to add conventional mounts and create automount maps for automounts; after backing up existing configuration files, transfer these files to other machines on the network.

See also:

• ``The distributed computing environment''

• ``When to use automount''

• ``Planning an NIS configuration''