At work I manage a group responsible for data management and security. We have a need to specify complex permissions on files and folders beyond just the standard user/group/world rwx. Research shows this can be done with extended file attributes (setfacl, getfacl commands) on filers running NFSv4. The filers at work are running NFSv3. Whenever I ask the IT group regarding conversion, they always reply with "it is too slow, too hard, not safe or stable, etc" to upgrade to NFSv4 without providing data or timelines to substantiate the claims. As a result, we end up creating multiple copies of data where directoryA has files which groupA can view and directoryB has files which groupB can view.
I was wondering a couple of things:
- are the claims true? Does conversion from NFSv3 to NFSv4 with extended file attributes enabled severly impact performance? are there other items to consider? for example, I assume some applications may not be coded to properly interpret these extended file attributes.
- Besides acls on NFSv4, is there another solution or method for applying complex permissions? the majority of machines at work are running either SLES11 or SLES12.
Appreciate any help or direction you can offer...thanks!