Hi,

Now that I have a couple of systems at home, I wanted to make sure
that I was not downloading the upgrades multiple times. I am using
Fedora and Yum but similar ideas could be useful for all.

The most appropriate option is to have the local repository and the
cache directory (with keep cache true) on one system and share it.

NFS exports will take care of it on the server (e.g. amd). The local
repository directory, e.g. /var/fedora, can be a read only export but
the cache directory, /var/cache/yum by default, has to be read and
write and should not squash root.

On the client side, it is not appropriate to mount these all the time
in fstab. They are needed only occasionally.

The best option is Automount. The easiest way is to create 2 entries
in /etc/auto.misc, e.g.
fedora -ro,soft,intr amd:/var/fedora
yum -rw,soft,intr amd:/var/cache/yum

Now, if any application accesses /misc/fedora or /misc/yum, these will
be mounted.
DO NOT CREATE fedora or yum directories in /misc.

Incidentally, I had a 'tough' time when a second disk on my system
failed and the os wouldn't boot because of the entries in /etc/fstab.
Now, whenever something is needed occasionally, I am using automount
only, e.g.
suse -fstype=ext3 :/dev/sda3

This will allow me to access the partition with Suse installed on it,
when I need it.
Using a softlink /SUSE to /misc/suse allows me to point and click as well.

Regards
Anil