Recovery From Failure, Network Protocol Independence, Performance, Security.Are there any Alternative for NFS?Other alternatives to NFS include: - AFS -- Andrew File System developed at CMU - DFS -- Distributed File System from OSF. -RFS -- Remote File System found on older V.3 versions ofUnix. -Netware -- Novell based file system. -CIFS -- Common Internet File SystemWhat is CIFS (SMP) ?CIFS defines a standard remote file system access protocol for use over the Internet, enabling groups of users to work together and share documents across the Internet or within their corporate intranets. CIFS is an open, cross-platform technology based on the native file-sharing protocols built into Microsoft Windows and other popular PC operating systems, and supported on dozens of other platforms, including UNIX. With CIFS, millions of computer users can open and share remote files on the Internet without having to install new software or change the way they work. Technology comparison between NFS and CIFS(SMP).In every textbook description of NFS, its statelessness is emphasized. NFS operations are idempotent (can be repeatedly applied harmlessly), or if non-idempotent (e.x., file deletion) are managed safely by the server. Clients are oblivious to server reboots (if service is restored promptly), with few exceptions. The NFS protocol emphasizes error recovery over file locking error recovery is simple if no state need be preserved. A CIFS file server is not stateless. The CIFS protocol emphasizes locking over error recovery because PC application software relies on strict locking. Strict locking requires a sustained connection. It is imperative that an active session not be interrupted. Applications executing on PC clients react to a CIFS server in exactly the same manner as they do to local disk drives: a down server is no different a condition than an unresponsive disk drive. Therefore, PC clients must be warned -- and allowed time -- ...
