Stateless vs Stateful Servers

• A stateful server remembers client data (state) from one request to the next.

• A stateless server keeps no state information

• Using a stateless file server, the client must
  specify complete file names in each request
  specify location for reading or writing
  re-authenticate for each request

• Using a stateful file server, the client can send less data with each request

• A stateful server is simpler

• On the other hand a stateless server is more robust
  lost connections can't leave a file in an invalid state
  rebooting the server does not lose state information
  rebooting the client does not confuse a stateless server