Advantages:
1. Allows multiple computers to use the same files, so everyone on the network can access the same data
2. Reduces storage costs by having computers share applications instead of needing local disk space for each user application
3. Provides data consistency and reliability because all users can read the same set of files
4. Makes mounting of file systems transparent to users
5. Makes accessing remote files transparent to users
6. Supports heterogeneous environments
7. Reduces system administration overhead
Disadvantages: 1. It is not a secure mechanism for providing authentication and authorization services. 2. If NIS clients use the broadcast service to locate NIS servers on the network, intruders can easily introduce their own NIS server with their own privileged accounts. Once a client binds to the rogue NIS server, the intruder can gain access to that client and perform unauthorized operations. 3. The NIS server’s only security policy is the securenets setting. The securenets setting identifies which NIS clients to accept queries from. If an intruder impersonates a client that the securenets setting allows the NIS server to accept, he can download all of the NIS data. Even if an intruder fails the securenets test, he could potentially inspect all of the NIS requests and decode the data to gain access. 4. If NIS is used for authentication, password hashes are sent around the network in clear text and can be easily captured and cracked, making client systems vulnerable.