Comparative Performance Analysis of NFS and SMB/CIFS File Systems Integrated into Windows Server DFS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54580/R0702.09Keywords:
Distributed file system, Performance, Evaluation, Windows Server, NFS, SMB/CIFSAbstract
Distributed file systems (DFS) are technological resources that enable secure and efficient information sharing and access within a network infrastructure. Since the adoption of these types of systems is vital for an institution, and considering the importance of choosing the right protocol for infrastructure reliability and performance, this study aims to comparatively analyze the operation and performance of Network File System (NFS) and Server Message Block (SMB)/Common Internet File System (CIFS) file systems integrated with the Windows Server DFS service, analyzing variables such as transfer rate, CPU (Central Processing Unit) utilization, and threads under different workloads. The test environment was designed based on the network infrastructure of Katyavala Bwila University, located in Benguela province, Angola, which uses a client-server architecture. Based on the results presented, the system's responsiveness was determined for different operations (write, rewrite, read, reread, and others) on files and records of different sizes. Similar performance was observed between the protocols in intensive load tests, with minor variations in throughput for specific operations. This information provides relevant information for network administrators, experts, and the scientific community in defining file sharing policies and choosing the most appropriate protocol for deployments in DFS environments.
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