NFS VS. SMB

[itspac]

Is there any advatage to using either NFS or SMB shares?  Performance, compatability with LMCE should be considered.   

There isn't much in the wiki or here that I have seen from previous searches.

[royw]

I'll start the response with some opinions.  I'm sure others will have different opinions.

The biggest factor is what your server is.  If it's a windows box, then you will probably use SMB/CIFS.  If your server is *nix, then you have the choice between NFS and samba.  IMO, setting up NFS is easier than samba.  If your server is an appliance (NAS) you may or may not have a choice.

NFS is reportedly usually a little faster than samba.  Not enough to really matter until you start to saturate your gigabit network.

Your file servers should be on your internal network, so security shouldn't be a main issue, but if it is, then there are different security issues between NFS and SMB/CIFS.

FYI, I run a MS-free house, so chose NFS servers.

Have fun,
Roy