Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Common Internet File System
     
         (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 {Domain
        Name 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
       
     (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/fileio/base/cifs_smb_protocol_overview.asp)}.
     
        {SNIA page (http://www.snia.org/tech_activities/CIFS/)}.
     
        {CIFS: A Common Internet File System, Paul Leach and Dan Perry
        (http://www.microsoft.com/Mind/1196/CIFS.htm)}.
     
        {IETF Specification. CIFS version 1
        (ftp://ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-leach-cifs-v1-spec-01.txt)}.
     
        (2003-03-12)