When configuring your network-attached storage (NAS) for sending and receiving files from clients, several protocols are available. The two most common are Server Message Block (SMB) and Network File System (NFS). SMB is best suited for Windows clients, while NFS is the go-to for Linux and macOS (and any other Unix-based system). Depending on what devices you have on your home local area network (LAN) that will interact with the NAS, it may be prudent to have both active and running. It’s what I do, and here’s why.
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NFS is great for Unix
Linux, macOS, all are welcome
NFS is the protocol to use for Linux, macOS, and other Unix-based systems. It has lower overhead than SMB and other protocols and can even offer better performance for virtualization, backing up data, and streaming. NFS can be configured with UID and GUI mapping for Linux services, making it easy to essentially log in and use without much configuration on the client side. Specific hypervisors, such as Proxmox, can also work well with NFS.
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SMB is king on Windows
Transfer files from Microsoft’s OS
Should you have a Windows PC or two, SMB can make more sense. This protocol supports Windows ACLs, file locking, and integration with Active Directory, which is useful for Windows-heavy LANs. If you’re primarily using Windows-based devices and only need NFS for running services, such as Jellyfin and Immich on Proxmox or the NAS itself, allowing SMB clients to write data to folders and configuring NFS as read-only can help avoid conflicts.
SMB is certainly the way to go for Windows, thanks to support being baked into the OS itself. Doing so will unlock access to various advanced features, such as file versioning, offline files, shadow copies, and file locking. Like NFS on Linux, you can expect to see considerably better performance with SMB on Windows, at least compared to trying to get NFS up and running without hitting a brick wall or two along the way.
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Redundancy should one fail
Having a choice is always better
The best backup strategy is to have one, but another is to ensure you have more than one copy of data for recovery. The same goes for anything with a point of failure, such as connecting to your NAS. While you could use NFS or SMB on your Unix machine, it makes sense to have both available should one drop or cease to work altogether. This allows you to keep on transferring and accessing files without spending time figuring out what’s gone wrong.
Having the two protocols in use is also great for migrating to other systems, bringing one down for maintenance, or troubleshooting. It can also work like a virtual LAN (VLAN) in that you can keep systems separate, using SMB for file transfers between all clients and NFS for service-based data access through apps and services. So long as you have everything configured accordingly or use separate folders within the same share, you’ll be good to go.
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Everyone at home can connect
Fewer tech support tickets
There’s nothing worse for family members and house guests than not being able to access your file shares, especially if you’re running them through the process on how to get up and running. That’s why having both SMB and NFS enabled can make a world of difference in ensuring that no matter the platform used, they can connect to your NAS and start transferring data. It’s also great for reducing the influx of support tickets generated by loved ones.
With SMB and NFS enabled, one could transfer a document from a Windows PC onto the NAS, which can then be read or downloaded to an Android smartphone without doing anything other than configuring the same share on both devices. Platforms like TrueNAS make it easy to configure user accounts, access control lists (ACLs), and can handle having both protocols running to ensure maximum compatibility, making my life considerably easier.
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There’s no wrong choice here
Whether you should enable SMB or NFS depends on what you plan to connect to your NAS. It’s important to remember that there’s no wrong choice here. Having both enabled is perfectly fine, and operating system support isn’t set in stone. Although not recommended, you can technically mount NFS shares through Windows. The same goes for SMB on Linux and other Unix platforms. However, since there are no drawbacks to having both enabled, you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
Just make sure that whatever you use to host files and enable SMB and NFS, you’re either not simultaneously sharing the same folder on both protocols or the system can handle separating both through locking and permissions, else you may encounter some data corruption.