We choose NFS purely because it's the fastest way to get broad compatibility with most operating systems (NFSv3, for example is supported on both Linux and Windows). However, I have great news for you! We're simultaneously working on a custom protocol (over FUSE today) that is going to solve the small file problem for things like cloning the Linux kernel git repo. You can actually see in our demo video (https://youtu.be/xh1q5p7E4JY?feature=shared&t=170) that we untar the Linux kernel on Regatta in under 12 seconds. We're hopeful that this performance makes file storage useful for a broader set of workloads.