Common Internet File System in OS
Last Updated :
24 Jan, 2024
The Common Internet File System (CIFS) is an important piece of software that helps operating systems share files and communicate with one another in the network. CIFS, or server message block (SMB), developed by Microsoft, is a standardized protocol for sharing files on the network. In this article, we will discuss the operation of CIFS, its development, and applications to various operating systems.
What is a Common Internet File System?
The Common Internet File System is abbreviated as CIFS. This is a rule of the network filesystem. The protocol enables the machines to share files, printers, and access to their serial ports. That's what they put on devices that utilize the Windows Operating System.
Introduced in 1996, Common Internet File System is a version of server message block (SMB) developed by Microsoft to provide advanced access for network clients. Simply put, it serves the purpose of remotely exchanging files using Internet Protocol (IP).
This protocol is also employed for embedded and appliance systems. The two newest storage products are based on the CIFS, NAS (Network Attached Storage) and SAN (Storage Area Network).
Through this protocol, the client can manage all of its files as if they were on local computers. It also offers a shared group of users within corporate intranets. It offers many capabilities NFS can't handle. Other OS, including Unix, also support this protocol.
The following are three main entities that define the CIFS:
- Client: The client is the user who initiates most of the communication, as well as developing and executing a protocol.
- Server: It keeps the messages in the network and does this function.
- Application: The files that are shared on the network, however, can be reached by clients employing the application.
Features of CIFS
The following are the important characteristics or features of the Common Internet File System:
- File Access: Clients are able to open, close, read, and write as well as search the files over a network.
- Authenticate Transfer: The client can establish one or more secure contexts over the network so that there is certainly no loss of data.
- Resource Access: The client simultaneously gains access to the one or more shared services on a target server.
- Transport Independent: This protocol requires no external means to deliver the SMB messages from client and server.
- Extended Attributes: All those attributes that don't belong to the file system will be supported by Common Internet File System.
- Flexible Connectivity: One client can make one or more networks to each server very easily.
- Notification: If the file content is changed by either client or any other user, then the server informs (specifies).
- Safe Caching: This allows the client or user to store data in order to speed it up.
- File and record locking: This protocol also provides for the locking of files and records. Therefore, because of this, it is not possible for another person to write or open the files.
How Does the CIFS Work?
Below steps describe how to share the file over the network:
Step 1: A user sends a request to the server that he or she wants to visit.
Step 2: Then the client sends a request that is accepted by the server.
Step 3: Then the server sends the back response to client.
Step 4: Finally, the server linked up to other servers and began sharing files with clients.
Uses of CIFS
The current generation SMB protocol used for file sharing in Windows systems derived from CIFS. SMB is common on Windows networks for searching through folders and files.
Even though the CIFS protocol is probably best known in association with Microsoft, Open Source implementations of it also exist. For instance, CIFSD is an open source implementation of the CIFS (Common Internet File System) protocol for Linux. Likewise, Samba--the Windows interop scheme for Linux and Unix -- features an SMB/CIFS client. CIFS and SMB can also be used to give containers access to shared resources from time to time.
Downfalls of the CIFS
The prospects for Microsoft's CIFS proposal looked bright early on. Microsoft wanted to standardize SMB with CIFS. One of its advantages was that it directly faced communications over the TCP port 445, without going through NetBIOS at all. Despite this capability, in practice most CIFS clients and servers still used NetBIOS and LAN Manager (LanMan) authentication.
The original purpose of LAN Manager 1.0 was to provide support for a range of file system and operating-system functions within IBM's OS/2 platform environment. Later incarnations of LAN Manager also included Microsoft DOS and Windows. NT LAN Manager, or NTLM (also called NT LanMan 0.12), was originally the core specification for CIFS (common Internet file system).
Eventually, CIFS fell into disuse as Microsoft developed newer SMB protocols. Today's version is 3.0.
Conclusion
CIFS, has gone through several phases of development in order to adapt to the needs of networked environments. Its cross-platform capability, security functions and its ability to provide functionality make it a necessary part of modern operating systems. With further technological improvements in prospect, CIFS should continue to be adapted and revised as the environment of networked computing turns anew.
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