HP CIFS Server 3.0a Administrator's Guide version A.02.01

Introduction to the HP CIFS Server
Introduction to HP CIFS
Chapter 1 3
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 current HP CIFS Server (version A.02.01) is based on the
well-established open-source software Samba, version 3.0.7, and
provides file and print services to CIFS clients including Windows NT,
XP, 2000 and HP-UX machines running HP CIFS Client software.
The HP CIFS Client enables HP-UX users to mount as UNIX file
systems 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 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, or the Common Internet File System, is the Windows specification
for remote file access.
CIFS had its beginnings in the networking protocols, sometimes called
Server Message Block (SMB) protocols, that were developed in the late
1980's for PCs to share files over the then nascent Local Area Network
technologies (e.g., Ethernet). SMB is the native file-sharing protocol in
the Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT, XP 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, for all
practical purposes, one and 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.