Common Internet File System
<protocol> (CIFS) An Internet file system protocol, based on Microsoft's
SMB. Microsoft has given CIFS to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as
an Internet Draft. CIFS is intended to complement existing protocols such as
HTTP, FTP, and NFS.
CIFS runs on top of TCP/IP and uses the Internet's Domain Name Service (DNS). It
is optimised to support the slower speed dial-up connections common on the
Internet.
CIFS is more flexible than FTP. FTP operations are carried out on entire files
whereas CIFS is aimed at routine data access and incorporates high-performance
multi-user read and write operations, locking, and file-sharing semantics.
CIFS is probably closest in functionality to NFS. NFS gives random access to
files and directories, but is stateless. With CIFS, once a file is open, state
about the current access to that file is stored on both the client and the
server. This allows changes on the server side to be notified to the clients
that are interested.
Microsoft Overview.
SNIA page.
CIFS: A Common Internet File System, Paul Leach and Dan Perry.
IETF Specification. CIFS version 1.
(2003-03-12)
Nearby terms:
Common Information Model « Common Intermediate
Format « Common Intermediate Language « Common
Internet File System » Common-ISDN-API » Common
ISDN Application Programming Interface » Common Lisp
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