Which of the following is true about NFS operations and RPC port management?

• A. NFS operates independently of RPC port management.
• B. NFS relies on RPC to manage port allocation in a unified manner.
• C. RPC is used only for authentication in NFS.
• D. NFS directly communicates with servers without RPC.

Answer: (B)

NFS operations are performed through RPC, and port allocation for those RPC services is handled by a central port mapping service (rpcbind/portmapper). The client asks this port mapper to find the port number assigned to the specific NFS RPC program, then connects to that port to carry out the requested operations. This arrangement provides a unified, dynamic way to locate and use the various NFS-related services (such as NFS, mountd, and related daemons) without hard-coded ports. That’s why the statement stating that NFS relies on RPC to manage port allocation in a unified manner is the best description. NFS does not operate independently of RPC port management, nor is RPC limited to authentication; NFS interactions are implemented as RPC calls, not direct communication without RPC.