HP CIFS Client A.01.09 Administrator's Guide, August 2003

Introduction to the HP CIFS Client
Introduction to HP CIFS
Chapter 1 15
Introduction to HP CIFS
HP CIFS provides HP-UX with a distributed file system based on the
Microsoft Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols. HP CIFS
implements both the server and client components of the CIFS protocol
on HP-UX.
The HP CIFS Server is based on the well-established open-source
software Samba, and provides file and print services to CIFS clients
including Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, and HP-UX machines running HP
CIFS Client software.
The HP CIFS Client enables HP-UX users to mount as UNIX filesystems
shares from CIFS file servers including Windows servers and HP-UX
machines running HP CIFS Server. The HP CIFS client also offers an
optional Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) that implements the
Windows NT Lan Manager (NTLM) authentication protocols. When
installed and configured within HP-UX’s PAM facility, PAM NTLM
allows HP-UX users to be authenticated against a Windows
authentication server.
What is the CIFS Protocol?
CIFS had its beginnings in the networking protocols, sometimes called
Server Message Block (SMB) protocols, that were developed in the late
1980 for PCs to share files over the then nascent Local Area Network
technologies (for example, Ethernet). SMB is the native file-sharing
protocol in the Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2 operating
systems and the standard way that millions of PC users share files
across corporate intranets.
CIFS is simply a renaming of SMB; and CIFS and SMB are the same.
(Microsoft now emphasizes the use of CIFS, although references to SMB
still occur.) CIFS is also widely available on UNIX, VMS(tm), Macintosh,
and other platforms.
CIFS is a remote file access protocol; it provides access to files on remote
systems. It sits on top of and works with the file systems of its host
systems. CIFS defines both a server and a client: the CIFS client is used
to access files on a CIFS server.