The NFS version 3 protocol is designed to allow servers to be as simple and general as possible. Sometimes the simplicity of the server can be a problem, if the client implements complicated file system semantics. For example, some operating systems allow removal of open files. A process can open a file and, while it is open, remove it from the directory. The file can be read and Callaghan, el al Informational [Page 96] RFC 1813 NFS Version 3 Protocol June 1995 written as long as the process keeps it open, even though the file has no name in the file system. It is impossible for a stateless server to implement these semantics. The client can do some tricks such as renaming the file on remove (to a hidden name), and only physically deleting it on close. The NFS version 3 protocol provides sufficient functionality to implement most file system semantics on a client.

It may not sound that impressive today, now that file sharing is built into most modern operating systems, but it was cutting edge stuff 25 years ago.

It let sets of people work with the same copy of a file, instead of (for example) having to copy the file, and hope their copy was up to date.

You could try AoE (ATA over Ethernet, very fast since it's Layer 2 protocol). SSHfs is yet another option (fast setup and encrypted by default). Or iSCSI (wich is tricky to setup).

Probably the greatest disadvantage is the issue of security.  Because  NFS is based on RPC, remote procedure calls, it is inherently insecure  and should only be used on a trusted network behind a firewall.

Also, if a host is having network problems, it may stop logging, making it difficult for the administrator to determine what chain of events led up to the current state. At the very least, the administrator will not be able to access these logs from that host.

Analyzing NFS Client Performance with IOzone

How to troubleshoot NFS transfer latency issues using “nfsiostat”

Tune NFS Performance

RHEL mount hangs: nfs: server [...] not responding, still trying

All NFS mount options have good points and bad points

autofs is a program for automatically mounting directories on an as-needed basis.