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ONC RPC (SunRPC)
ONC RPC (SunRPC) is a protocol developed by Sun Microsystems enabling remote procedure calls over a network. It serves as the foundational communication method for Network File System (NFS) and other distributed network services on UNIX systems. It supports both TCP and UDP transports to facilitate flexible and efficient inter-process communication between clients and servers in heterogeneous environments..
Overview
ONC RPC, also known as SunRPC, is a framework for executing procedures on remote systems as if they were local calls. It uses an external data representation (XDR) language to ensure interoperability across different hardware architectures. RPC programs register with a portmapper running on port 111, enabling clients to query the port numbers assigned to active services.
Protocols and Transports
Operating over both TCP and UDP, ONC RPC provides flexibility depending on network reliability and latency considerations. UDP is generally preferred for lightweight, low-latency communication, while TCP ensures greater reliability for larger data transfers. Protocol serialization with XDR ensures platform independence for data exchanged.
Use Cases and Dependencies
The most notable use of ONC RPC is as the communication backbone for NFS (Network File System), which allows file access across networks as if they were local filesystems. Beyond that, ONC RPC supports many administrative and network services in UNIX/Linux ecosystems, where it acts as the glue for distributed client-server operations.