CIFScompatible

CIFS-compatible refers to software, hardware, or services that implement or support the Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol and can interoperate with Windows file sharing that uses SMB. CIFS is the traditional Windows dialect of SMB used in the 1990s and early 2000s; modern Windows systems and many servers prefer SMB2 or SMB3, but CIFS remains a backward-compatible target. A CIFS-compatible device can typically act as a file server or a client that mounts remote shares, allowing access to files as if they were on a local disk.

Technical background: CIFS operates over TCP/IP, commonly using port 445 and, historically, port 139. It supports authentication with NTLM or Kerberos, file and directory permissions, and standard file operations such as create, read, write, delete, and rename. Implementations are found in NAS devices, file servers, and software suites that provide network share services. The Samba project is a well-known open-source implementation that provides SMB/CIFS services on Unix-like systems.

Compatibility and considerations: Many modern environments negotiate SMB versions dynamically; CIFS compatibility can be affected by SMB version negotiation, server configuration, and security policies. Because CIFS historically relied on SMB1, it may be disabled on security-conscious systems due to vulnerabilities. Users should consider using SMB2 or SMB3 when possible and ensure appropriate authentication and access controls.

Applications: CIFS-compatible solutions enable Windows–Unix interoperability, shared folders for home or enterprise networks, network-attached storage, and cross-platform file services.

See also: SMB, SMB/CIFS, Samba, NAS, Windows File Sharing.