NFS root monitoring & system optimization

["Robb Main" <mainr@aci.on.ca>]

I have setup an Etherboot system with an NFS root.  I am looking for the
best way to monitor file activity on this NFS mount, with an eye to
optimizing the configuration.

The information I think I need to do this is a log of file opens, reads,
writes, closes, etc.

What is the best way to achieve this?  I have not seen any easy logging
mechanism in the NFS system itself, so is there another system utility that
might do the trick?  I know "strace" can generate this kind of generic info
(along with volumes of extraneous data), but I want to monitor ALL access
from the point of mounting the NFS partition during the boot cycle, so
"strace" is not the answer.

My intention here is to figure out which system components should be
maintained (compressed) in a RAM drive on the DC, and which should be
maintained on the NFS mount.  For instance, it is likely that shared
libraries would be accessed constantly, and might be candidate for the RAM
drive, whereas (in an embedded system, which might normally run a few
scripts, then load an application) something like the shell (i.e., bash),
might only be needed once during init, so it would be wasteful to maintain a
copy (even compressed) in RAM.  Maintaining "frequent use" components on the
RAM drive would minimize impact on the network providing the NFS mount.

Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks,
Robb Main.


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