NFS vs. CIFS
In the realm of computers, file systems and network protocols, two names often surface ‘“ the NFS and the CIFS. These acronyms sound too technical, because indeed they are really tech related, not to mention, understanding each concept requires some background in computer networking and its various applications.
To clarify the technicality of this topic, let’s start off with the NFS. The NFS is actually the acronym for Network File System. This network is practically used for Linux or Unix based OS (operating systems), homologous to Microsoft’s Window OS platform. This is a very convenient tool used in computers, because this application is used for remote access. In this sense, the user can take a look, or even change/edit some of his old files in one computer, by using another PC as a remote (the remote computer). In terms of history, this protocol was initially conceptualized and used by Sun Microsystems, back in 1984.
On the contrary, CIFS is its Windows-based counterpart used in file sharing. It is said that CIFS is the more talkative version of the two, in the sense that it always initiates a request for accessing a file on another computer that is connected to the server PC. This server computer will then make a response to the request made by the program.
CIFS is actually the public version of SMB (Server Message Block protocol), invented by Microsoft. This mechanism enables joint sharing of multiple devices such as printers, files, and even serial ports, among various users and administrators. Because this networking is typically used in Windows operated computers, it can also be termed as the Microsoft Windows Network itself. As such, CIFS is often used in big firms and companies who have employees working with lots of data that needs to be accessed by multiple users.
On a good note, some of the advantages of CIFS include:
1. Being broader in scope because it is capable of shared access to various applications, such as print, browsing and many others applications.
2. Unicode and high performance in nature.
3. It is also said that CIFS does not have to be used only for Windows.
Although NFS already has many versions under its belt, some of its advantages are:
1. It has a very simple implementation process compared to CIFS’ talkative, response-based nature.
2. It also boasts of a safer file caching.
Overall,
1. NFS is for Linux or Unix based OS, whereas CIFS is used for Windows operating systems.
2. CIFS is regarded as the more chatty, or talkative network system protocol, when compared to NFS.