NetBIOS, NetBEUI, NBF, SMB, CIFS networking links page

There is a suite or family of protocols which includes the NetBIOS Frames Protocol, NBF, (often referred to as NetBEUI or sometimes as NetBIOS), the Server Message Block protocol, SMB, and Common Internet File System, CIFS. These protocols are associated with the original NetBIOS implementation with which they have a historical link.

Many systems have used SMB in the past including Microsoft's Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 / 98, LAN Manager and Windows NT and IBM's OS/2 and LAN Server and many systems use SMB / CIFS today including versions of Windows and the SAMBA implementation.

While there has been documentation readily available for protocol suits such as AppleTalk, DECnet, IPX/SPX and TCP/IP, it is difficult to find documentation for SMB / CIFS and the other protocols in the suite; this page provides links to some documentation available on the Web.

A general document is available:
NetBios, NetBEUI, NBF, SMB, CIFS Networking.

NetBIOS / NetBEUI / NBF

There is no formal standard which defines the protocol(s) used with NetBIOS; in practice the IBM LAN Technical Reference IEEE 802.2 and NetBIOS Application Program Interfaces is used as a reference.

Title: LAN Technical Reference: 802.2 and NetBIOS APIs
Document Number: SC30-3587-01
Build Date: 04/30/96 15:30:53 Build Version: 1.3.0
Book Path: /home/publib/epubs/book/bk8p7001.boo

NetBIOS on a TCP/UDP transport

NetBIOS can be carried over TCP/IP networks. The relevant RFCs describing NetBIOS on a TCP and UDP foundation are:

RFC 1001: Protocol standard for a NetBIOS service on a TCP/UDP transport: concepts and methods
RFC 1002: Protocol standard for a NetBIOS service on a TCP/UDP transport: detailed specifications

There are several implementations of NetBIOS on a TCP/UDP transport. A free implementation is "SAMBA" which is available for various Unix platforms and non-Unix platforms. Further information about "SAMBA" can be obtained from the "SAMBA" Web page:

http://www.samba.org

Server Message Block protocol (SMB)

SMB is an application level protocol which runs over NBF (NetBEUI / NetBIOS) or NetBIOS over TCP/IP or NetBIOS over IPX/SPX. Further information can be found at the following locations:

The Open Group has some documents on SMB

The following publications are currently available.
- http://www.opengroup.org/public/pubs/catalog/c209.htm
  Protocols for X/Open PC Interworking: SMB, Version 2
- http://www.opengroup.org/public/pubs/catalog/c195.htm
  IPC Mechanisms for SMB
Richard Sharpe has produced a document which explains what the SMB protocol is and discusses the many client and server implementations:
http://samba.anu.edu.au/cifs/docs/what-is-smb.html
Just what is SMB? V1.0 Richard Sharpe
A history of SMB can be found at:
http://samba.anu.edu.au/cifs/docs/smb-history.html
History of SMB

by Dan.Shearer@unisa.edu.au
Microsoft has made some documentation on SMB available.
The following documents are available, and seem to be in "MS-DOS text with layout" format.
- COREP.TXT is the orginal core protocol developed for MSnet and PCLP. It is the common protocol (ie least common denominator) spoken by any SMB server (ie MSnet, Lan Manager, VMS SMB servers, XenixNet, etc)."
  
  Microsoft Networks/OpenNET
  FILE SHARING PROTOCOL
  INTEL Part Number 138446
  Document Version 2.0
  November 7, 1988
- DOSEXTP.TXT is the LM 1.0 SMB protocol. "
  
  Microsoft Networks
  SMB FILE SHARING PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS
  SMB File Sharing Protocol Extensions Version 2.0
  Document Version 3.3
  November 7, 1988
- SMB.TXT is the LM 2.0 protocol. Note: In the doc is calls LM 2.0 as LM 1.2 (it's orginal name before being renamed to LM 2.0). "
  
  Microsoft Networks
  SMB FILE SHARING PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS
  SMB File Sharing Protocol Extensions Version 3.0
  Document Version 1.09
  November 29, 1989
- XEXTNP.TXT is the XenixNet SMB protocol. "
  
  OpenNET/Microsoft Networks
  FILE SHARING PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS
  INTEL Part Number 138447
  Version 1.9
  September 5, 1986
An article titled:
"Understanding the Network Neighborhood
How Linux Works With Microsoft Networking Protocols"
by Christopher R. Hertel appeared in Linux Magazine May 2001 and is available on line at: http://www.linux-mag.com/id/785

Common Internet File System (CIFS)

A new version of SMB was developed called CIFS. Further information can be found at:

John Kleven at CodeFX wrote an excellent PDF document, CIFS Explained that can be downloaded from their web site
http://media.server276.com/codefx/CIFS_Explained.pdf
Microsoft has produced a document listing public information on SMB and CIFS:
CIFS or Public SMB Information on Common Internet File System (Q199072)
This document can be obtained from the Microsoft support site.
jCIFS There is a project to implement the Common Internet File System (CIFS) in Java. Information on this project can be found at: http://jcifs.samba.org/
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) produced a work-in-progress document:
Common Internet File System (CIFS)
Version: CIFS-Spec 0.9
Draft SNIA CIFS Work Group Work-in-Progress
This document was once available: http://www.snia.org/English/Collaterals/Work_Group_Docs/NAS/CIFS/CIFS-SPEC-0P9-REVIEW.pdf

But unfortunately the document CIFS-Spec-0-9.pdf is no longer available at that URL.
CIFS is also documented in:
Implementing CIFS
The Common Internet File System
by Christopher R. Hertel
This document can be found at:
http://www.ubiqx.org/cifs/index.html

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