Allowing failover servers to handle different functions within the exported file system removes the problem of requiring a distributed locking protocol.

If only one server is active in a pair, the need for high-speed server interconnect is avoided. This allows the use of existing high-availability solutions, instead of inventing a new one. This simpler solution comes at a price the cost of which is the need to manage a more complex file name space. Since there is now not a single file system, administrators must remember where all services are located a complexity not easily dealt with.

The virtual server is still needed to redirect requests to backend servers. Backend file space integrity is the responsibility of the administrator.