(on the server , as root) make sure nfs is running 
/etc/init.d/nfs status

if not, do:
/etc/init.d/nfs start

to share a path to a local machine: 
/usr/sbin/exportfs -o ro 192.168.0.*:/path_to_share

"-o ro" makes this read only.
"192.168.0.*" restricts access to my local subnet

On the client
mount -o soft 192.168.0.3:/path_to_share /mnt/remote

by using the ipaddress eliminates DNS issues. 
/mnt/remote must be an existing directory

"-o soft" is VERY important. without this, if the server
goes away any reads to the server will never time out. You 
will have to reboot to unlock any process involved with 
I/O to the server.