SMBcompatible

SMBcompatible is a designation used to describe software, operating systems, or hardware devices that implement the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol family in a way that enables interoperability with other SMB-capable systems. SMB is a network file sharing protocol originally developed by IBM and later extended by Microsoft; its revisions, including SMB 2 and SMB 3, add performance improvements and security features. A system labeled SMBcompatible should support core SMB capabilities such as session setup, tree connect, file and directory access, and named pipes, as well as authentication mechanisms used in SMB deployments (NTLM and Kerberos) and the ability to negotiate dialects.

In practice, SMBcompatible devices include Windows operating systems, Samba servers on Unix-like platforms, and many network-attached storage (NAS) devices and printers. Interoperability considerations include support for Windows-style path semantics and Unicode, share enumeration, and the ability to connect to, access, and manage shared resources across the network. Many environments that prioritize security may disable older SMB dialects (such as SMB1) in favor of newer, more secure versions.

Implementation details commonly associated with SMBcompatible systems include support for SMB signing to ensure message integrity and, in SMB3, encryption for in-transit protection. Compatibility testing for SMBcompatibility typically covers scenarios such as connecting to shared folders, enumerating available shares, transferring files, applying access control lists, and authenticating via NTLM or Kerberos.

Limitations: although SMBcompatible describes broad interoperability, exact feature sets and security configurations can vary across implementations, which may require specific configuration or tuning to achieve optimal compatibility.