File protocols
The file protocols clients use to reach BlixtFS, and the operating systems they run on.
Clients need nothing from Blixt Software: they use the operating system’s built-in NFS or SMB support.
Protocols
| Protocol | Versions | Edition |
|---|---|---|
| NFS | 4 | All |
| NFS | 3 | Enterprise, High Performance |
| SMB | 3 | All |
| SFTP | SSH-2 | Enterprise, High Performance |
| WebDAV | Enterprise, High Performance | |
| Kubernetes CSI | CSI 1.10 | Early access |
NFSv3 is supported, but discouraged
NFSv3 is supported in environments that prefer or depend on NFSv3. Using NFSv3 is discouraged, as the protocol semantics don’t map cleanly to object storage semantics. One major issue is that NFSv3 doesn’t issue a Close() operation at the end of a sequence of writes. BlixtFS would normally uses a Close() trigger uploads to cloud storage.
BlixtFS has a protocol agnostic architecture. Other file protocols can be added on request. Please contact us.
Operating systems
| Client | NFS | SMB | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux Debian / Ubuntu | ✓ | ✓ | Install nfs-common/nfs-utils or cifs-utils |
| MacOS | ✓ | ✓ | Use noresvport for NFS mounts started by a user |
| Windows 10 and 11 | Pro and Enterprise | ✓ | SMB recommended |
| FreeBSD and other Unix | ✓ | ✓ |
NFS re-exporting not supported
Re-exporting NFS probably works, but is not a supported configuration. Performance could be low. As mentioned above, NFSv4 is the preferred NFS protocol.
Re-exporting NFSv4 as NFSv3, as a protocol translator, is a bad idea.
Native clients
- MacOS: a native app that mounts buckets in Finder without Docker is in development. See MacOS.
- Windows: a native Windows client is in development. See Windows.
The native apps can also be used as a graphic user interface to configure and update server deployments.