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Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide
To the typical end user, networks were created for one main reason: to permit the sharing of information. Most information on computers exists in the form of files that reside on storage devices such as hard disks; thus, one primary purpose of networks is to let users share files. File transfer and message transfer protocols exist that allow users to “manually” move files from one place to the next, but a more automated method is preferable in many cases. Internetworking protocols provide such capabilities in the form of network file and resource sharing protocols.
In this section, I provide a description of network file and resource sharing protocols from the standpoint of TCP/IP networks. I begin with a brief overview of the concepts and operation of this class of protocols, discussing some of the elements common to the different types. I then describe the most common one defined specifically for TCP/IP: the Network File System (NFS).
Related Information: Obviously, network file and resource sharing protocols and services are closely related to the file and message transfer protocols I mentioned earlier. For example, NFS can be used to accomplish tasks similar to those performed by TCP/IP file and message transfer applications such as FTP and HTTP. I consider those protocols more like specific end-user application unto themselves, and therefore describe them in the section on application protocols. I realize that this distinction between “manual” and “automatic” file transfer is somewhat arbitrary, but then, so are a lot of other things in the great world of networking. J
Quick navigation to subsections and regular topics in this section