Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a native Microsoft Windows networking protocol, developed jointly by Microsoft, IBM, and Intel in the late 1980s. SMB enables simple peer-to-peer networks to be created with two or more Windows workstations, all of which function as clients, because clients advertise their presence on SMB networks, all the linked workstations in a workgroup. All will appear in each other’s Network Neighborhood Window and, provided users set sharing permissions correctly, they can exchange files.
SMB also enables network administrators to set up servers, which can implement a variety of functions, including centrally-administered network login authentication. See Common Internet File System (CIFS), Samba.
Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol
