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 DomainName 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)