Common Internet File System is, as its name already says, a specification for a file access protocol designed for the internet. CIFS allows the sharing of directories, files, printers, etc., across a network, and the related administration of it (protocol for service announcements, naming, authentication and authorization)
CIFS is based on the existing SMB protocol. With CIFS, any naming conventions that are tied into SMB have been separated to allow use of any chosen standard (e.g. DNS). The intention is, that to make implementations on "all" platforms and not to replace existing file access protocols such as HTTP, FTP and NFS, but to complement them.

These are the benefits of using CIFS:

• CIFS allows multiple clients to access and update the same file, while preventing conflicts with sophisticated file-sharing and locking semantics.
• CIFS supports fault tolerance in the face of network and server failures. CIFS clients can automatically restore connections and reopen files that were open prior to interruption.
• The CIFS protocol has been tuned to run well over slow-speed dial-up lines. It optimizes for slow links.
• CIFS servers support both anonymous transfers and secure, authenticated access to named files. File and directory security policies are easy to administer.
• The performance of CIFS servers is unequaled among network file systems. CIFS servers are highly integrated with the operating system, tuned for maximum system performance, and easy to administer.

CIFS architecture helps shared access to backup files between systems on a network. It simplifies the communication by using a client-server architecture where Zmanda can manage read, write, edit, and even remove access on any backup sets on the file server. Using CIFS file systems, managing backups is simple and scalable.

Common Internet Filesystem (CIFS) is useful for backing up file system types (such as Netware servers) that do not support Amanda Enterprise clients, or for when you do not wish to install the Zmanda client software on the system being backed up.

Like other file system backups, CIFS-based backup lets you specify files to exclude, and whether to enable encryption and compression. CIFS-based backup does not support backing up extended file attributes.

CIFS restores are performed as RAW restores. The file system is restored to a tar file in the destination directory specified on the Restore Where page. You can then manually extract files from the tar.

Zmanda helps enterprises achieve CIFS backups and objectives - even during major IT outages. IT teams can expect robust CIFS backup strategies. Zmanda is a powerful backup and recovery offering for a price less than you would expect.

• It is the World’s leading provider of enterprise open source backup and recovery products. We have a legacy of protecting enterprise data.

•  Zmanda also offers seamless enterprise backups for Hybrid cloud environment. Zmanda ensures that all critical workloads such as servers, databases, application, and VMs across hybrid cloud resources are protected against security breaches and accidental errors.

• Zmanda has cleared Homeland certification for Government use. Coverity, which creates automated source-code analysis tools, announced its first list of open source projects that have been certified as free of security defects and we are humbled to be on the list certified for government use.

To enable IT to test Zmanda on demo environments - we offer a fully licensed version of Zmanda for 14 days. Please fill out our Free Trial form, and our sales

Yes, Zmanda production support team is available 24 x 7 over both phone and email. You can choose our Standard or Premium level of support, made available to you with complete knowledge base access, email and phone support, case management, software enhancements and security updates. Please visit- contact support to get in touch with our support team.