Reduced directory lookup requests

A full directory listing, with the ls -l command for example, requires that name and attribute information be acquired from the server for all entries in the directory listing.

NFS Version 2 clients query the server separately for the list of file and directory names and attribute information for all directory entries through lookup requests. With NFS Version 3, the names list and attribute information are returned at one time via the READDIRPLUS operation , relieving both client and server from performing multiple tasks.

Support for caching of longer filenames (greater than 31 characters) in the NFS client directory for the name lookup cache , or dnlc was added. Implementation of this feature is a benefit for NFS client work loads using very long filenames, which previously caused excessive LOOKUP operations to the server due to dnlc misses. An example of this type of work load is the ls -l command that was previously mentioned.