File-Sharing Giants of the Local Network — SMB and NFS

Introduction

When it comes to file sharing not over the internet, but within a local network (at the office or at home), other protocols take the stage. The two main competitors here are: SMB — the king of the Windows world, and NFS — the standard for Unix/Linux.

SMB (Server Message Block) — the language of Windows communication

SMB is a network protocol that provides shared access to files, printers, and other network resources. If you’ve ever opened a shared folder in Windows — you’ve used SMB.

History and versions

• Originally developed by IBM, but gained wide popularity thanks to Microsoft.
• CIFS (Common Internet File System) — an outdated Microsoft implementation of SMB. Today, the term is rarely used.
• SMB 2.0 and 3.0 — modern versions, much faster and more secure. They support on-the-fly encryption, protecting data even within local networks.

How does it work?

• A server “shares” a folder.
• Clients on the network connect to it as a network drive and work with files as if they were local.

Samba

Samba is a free implementation of SMB that allows Linux/macOS machines to:

• Connect to Windows networks as clients.
• Act as full-fledged SMB servers.

NFS (Network File System) — directory mounting in Linux

NFS, created by Sun Microsystems, is the standard file-sharing protocol in the Unix/Linux world.

How does it work?

• The server exports a specific directory.
• The client “mounts” it into their filesystem.
• After mounting, the folder /share/data on the server may appear on the client as /mnt/server_data.
• All file operations are transparently redirected over the network.

SMB vs. NFS: head-to-head

Conclusion

• If your network consists mostly of Windows machines or is a mixed environment, go with SMB (via Samba).
• If your network is purely Linux/Unix-based, then NFS is the more native and often more efficient solution.

Resources

• Microsoft Docs: SMB Protocol
• NFS — Linux man page
• Samba Project