Many distributed files systems are organized along the lines of client-server architectures, with Sun Microsystem's Network File System (NFS) being one of the most widely- deployed ones for UNIX-based systems

The basic idea behind NFS is that each file server provides a standardized view of its local file system.

The model underlying NFS and similar systems is that of a remote file service.

In this model, clients are offered transparent access to a file system that is managed by a remote server.