With the z/OS NFS server, the client has remote access to z/OS UNIX files from a client workstation. Using the Network File System, the client can mount all or part of the file system and make it appear as part of its local file system. From the workstation, the client user can create, delete, read, write, and treat the host-located files as part of the workstation's own file system.

In a similar way, the z/OS NFS client gives users remote access to files on an NFS server. Using NFS, the user can mount all or part of the remote file system and make it appear as part of the local z/OS UNIX file hierarchy. From there, the user can create, delete, read, write, and treat the remotely located files as part of their own file system.

In a sysplex, the NFS Client-NFS Server relationship is as follows: the data that becomes accessible is accessible from any place in the sysplex as long as at least one of the systems has connectivity to the NFS server. Entries in the NFS Server Export Data Set can control which UNIX directories can be mounted by client users. You can specify either fully qualified path names or symbolic links.