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Has anyone set up NFS where both the server and the clients are all Windows? I am wondering:

  • How Does Performance Compare to using builtin Windows file sharing (CIFS/SMB)?
  • Can clients mount NFS shares as network drives just like with regular file sharing?
  • Any recommended tools since Windows does not support this natively?
  • Does doing this provide reliable file sharing?
Jon Rhoades
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Kyle Brandt
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2 Answers2

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CIFS/SMB really should be your choice for Windows clients & servers - NFS can be very insecure without the hassle of Kerberos. Using SMB you get the standard Windows security model.

  • Performance wise there is not not much much in it - possibly SMB is a bit faster.
  • XP needs Windows Services for UNIX (here) to mount NFS
  • Windows Server can only mount NFS shares not offer them. It has to use SMB.
  • Reliability for an XP client mounting an NFS share from a Linux server so far has been fine, although we only have a couple of machines doing this.

In conclusion for a Windows server, NFS is not an option. For an XP client only use NFS if you have to - due to only having a Linux server when you don't want the hassle of setting up SAMBA

Jon Rhoades
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I tried using NFS using a Synology (linux) to Windows clients and the performance was beyond abysmal. Returned to using SMB.

Gavin Greenwalt
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