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From a windows208r2 client connected to a SMB/CIFS share, I move a file from one directory to another directory on the same network share.

Does windows send a "move" command to the share, or does windows copy the bytes locally, write them to the new location on the same share in the new location, and then delete the original file?

One would be much more efficient than the other, just don't know how "smart" the client/server is for this type of share.

Andrew Theken
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1 Answers1

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The short answer is: Meh.

On a file "Move" (AKA Cut and Paste) between the same share it will simply change the index on the file server (pretty much instant).

Unfortunately when you try to move between two different shares (Even on the same file server) or do a "copy" operation it does pull the data through the client PC (slow).

On any "move" operation is does copy each file before deleting the source file, so at least that's good =)

Easy to test all of this by connecting to a share with a large folder and trying it out.

Thildemar
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  • I didn't want to answer my own question, but indeed after posting, I did exactly that, connecting to a file share and moving a 3GB to a subdirectory. The operation completed almost instantly. Didn't know if other circumstances would change how this worked. – Andrew Theken Aug 04 '12 at 11:45