An open-source Network File System Client is cooking for the Windows operating system, courtesy of the University of Michigan's Center for Information Technology Integration (CITI). Still, behind CITI is none other than Microsoft. The Redmond company is in fact sponsoring the open-source Network File System Client for Windows, according to Microsoft Open Source Community Manager Peter Galli. The initiative is a perfect fit into Microsoft's interoperability puzzle, with Galli pointing out that the new file system is set up to enable Windows to better interoperate with the Internet storage protocol designed for fast file sharing.

“We believe that customers want to be able to choose the technologies that best meet their needs and that also interoperate with existing systems. Ultimately, CITI's work will help change the way customers can combine their systems by enabling computers running Windows to directly and easily access NFS file shares on servers running Linux, Solaris, and AIX operating systems,” revealed Bob Muglia, the president of Microsoft's Server and Tools Business.

Muglia referred specifically to NFSv4.1 as a file sharing protocol tailored to scenarios involving vast amounts of information accessed by high-performance computing machines. By tailoring the Network File System Client to the Windows platform, Microsoft will ensure that customers running its proprietary platform will be able to benefit from the same level of access of parallel file systems as UNIX and Linux-based software. A research unit in the College of Engineering, CITI developed NFSv4 for the open-source Linux operating system in the first place.

“NFS is a commonly used protocol for sharing files among networked computers and storage hardware, particularly with UNIX and Linux-based software. NFSv4 is the latest version of this software and adds support for parallel access to file servers, object-storage, and storage area network infrastructures,” Galli added.