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The most common protocols used are Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), and Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), and depend upon the OS of the file share and the user’s connecting device. For example, NFS is common for Linux users, SMB for Windows, and AFP for Mac. NFS is great for UNIX server-to-server file sharing, but is.
- May 20, 2020 What you want is to use SMB but it isn’t easy to force it. There are two ways that both involve some hackery: Remove all AFP references in your keychain. Legacy-wise, if you have used older version of MacOS before SMB became standard, you are going to have keychain entries.
- Jul 24, 2019 As of 10.14, it is still very useful, and seems a bit better overall than SMB to me. I use both on a Synology, and AFP still edges out SMB just a bit for features. It will be interesting to see if 10.15, or perhaps 10.16 could have SMB overtake AFP for Mac users in either performance or features.
- But I kept wondering WHY these files were coming to my Mac with bad permissions. I did remember that the HP instructions said that it does not speak AFP, you have to turn on SMB Windows file sharing, so I investigated that for awhile. Which turned out to be what got me onto the right path.
The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), formerly AppleTalk Filing Protocol, is a proprietarynetwork protocol, and part of the Apple File Service (AFS), that offers file services for macOS and the classic Mac OS. In macOS, AFP is one of several file services supported, with others including Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and WebDAV. AFP currently supports Unicode file names, POSIX and access control list permissions, resource forks, named extended attributes, and advanced file locking. In Mac OS 9 and earlier, AFP was the primary protocol for file services.
Compatibility[edit]
AFP versions 3.0 and greater rely exclusively on TCP/IP (port 548) for establishing communication, supporting AppleTalk only as a service discovery protocol. The AFP 2.x family supports both TCP/IP (using Data Stream Interface) and AppleTalk for communication and service discovery. Many third-party AFP implementations use AFP 2.x, thereby supporting AppleTalk as a connection method. Still earlier versions rely exclusively on AppleTalk. For this reason, some older literature refers to AFP as 'AppleTalk Filing Protocol'. Other literature may refer to AFP as 'AppleShare', the name of the Mac OS 9 (and earlier) AFP client.
Notable current compatibility topics are:
- Mac OS X v10.4 and later eliminates support for AFP servers that rely solely on AppleTalk for communication.
- Computers using classic Mac OS can connect to AFP 3.x servers, with some limitations. For example, the maximum file size in Mac OS 8 is 2 gigabytes. Typically, Mac OS 9.1 or later is recommended for connecting to AFP 3.x servers; for versions of original Mac OS prior to 9.1, installation of the AppleShare client 3.8.8 is required.
- AFP 3.0 and later is required for network home directories, since Mac OS X requires POSIX permissions on user home directories. Single sign-on using Kerberos requires AFP 3.1.
- APFS: AFP is incompatible with sharing of APFS volumes but is still usable as a Time Machine destination in High Sierra.
History[edit]
Early implementations of AFP server software were available in Mac OS starting with System 6, in AppleShare and AppleShare IP, and in early '1.x' releases of Mac OS X Server. In client operating systems, AFP was called 'Personal File Sharing', and supported up to ten simultaneous connections.[1] These AFP implementations relied on version 1.x or 2.x of the protocol. AppleShare IP 5.x, 6.x, and the '1.x' releases of Mac OS X Server introduced AFP version 2.2. This was the first version to offer transport connections using TCP/IP as well as AppleTalk. It also increased the maximum share point size from four gibibytes to two tebibytes,[1] although the maximum file size that could be stored remained at two gibibytes due to limitations in the original Mac OS.[2]
Changes made in AFP since version 3.0 represent major advances in the protocol, introducing features designed specifically for Mac OS X clients.
However, like the AppleShare client in original Mac OS, the AFP client in Mac OS X continues to support type and creator codes, along with filename extensions.
AFP 3.0 was introduced in Mac OS X Server 10.0.3, and was used through Mac OS X Server 10.1.5. It was the first version to use the UNIX-style POSIX permissions model and Unicode UTF-8 file name encodings. Version 3.0 supported a maximum share point and file size of two tebibytes, the maximum file size and volume size for Mac OS X until version 10.2.[3] (Note that the maximum file size changed from version 2.2, described above.) Before AFP 3.0, 31 bytes was the maximum length of a filename sent over AFP.
AFP 3.1 was introduced in Mac OS X Server version 10.2. Notable changes included support for Kerberos authentication, automatic client reconnect, NFS resharing, and secure AFP connections via Secure Shell (SSH). The maximum share point and file size increased to 8 tebibytes with Mac OS X Server 10.2,[3][4] and then to 16 tebibytes with Mac OS X Server 10.3.[3][5]
AFP 3.2 adds support for Access Control Lists and extended attributes in Mac OS X Server 10.4. Maximum share point size is at least 16 tebibytes, although Apple has not published a limits document for Mac OS X Server 10.4.
AFP 3.2+ was introduced in Mac OS X Leopard and adds case sensitivity support and improves support for Time Machine (synchronization, lock stealing, and sleep notifications).
AFP 3.3 mandates support for Replay Cache functionality (required for Time Machine).
AFP 3.4, introduced in OS X Mountain Lion, includes a minor change in the mapping of POSIX errors to AFP errors.
See Apple's Developer documentation on AFP Version Differences.[6]
The macOS client[edit]
In Mac OS X Tiger, users can connect to AFP servers by browsing for them in the Network globe or entering an AFP Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into the Connect to Server dialog. In Mac OS X Leopard and later releases, AFP shares are displayed in the Finder side-bar. AFP URLs take the form: afp://⟨server⟩/⟨share⟩, where ⟨server⟩ is the server's IP address, Domain Name System (DNS) name, or Bonjour name, and ⟨share⟩ is the name of the share point. In Snow Leopard and later, a URL of the form afp://⟨server⟩/⟨share⟩/⟨path⟩ can be used to mount a subdirectory underneath a share point.
macOS also offers Personal File Sharing, a 'light' implementation of the current version of AFP. In Mac OS X 10.4, users can share the contents of their Public folders by checking Personal File Sharing in the Sharing section of System Preferences.
AFP URLs for AppleTalk servers took the form: afp://at/⟨AppleTalk name⟩:⟨AppleTalk zone⟩. For networks without AppleTalk zones, an asterisk (*) would be substituted for the zone name.
Third-party implementations[edit]
Third party server implementations of AFP are available from a number of companies.
- An open source AFP server called Netatalk (AFP 3.4) is available for Unix-like operating systems and integrated into NAS solutions including Buffalo NAS systems, Exanet ExaStore,[7]Iomega's Home Media Network Hard Drive,[8] IXsystems FreeNAS, LaCie NAS OS, Lime Technology unRAID,[9] Napp-it,[10] Netgear ReadyNAS, QNAP NAS, Synology DiskStation, Thecus NAS,[11] and more.[12][13] Netatalk v3.1, released 2013-10-28, adds Spotlight support.[14][15]
- Novell Open Enterprise Server supports AFP.
- Microsoft includes AFP 2.2 server support as an option in some versions of Windows (NT, 2000 & 2003). Windows NT Server (3 and 4) only supported AppleTalk, 2000 added AppleShare over IP; Services for Macintosh (SFM), was removed from Windows Server 2008 onwards.
- Novell's NetWare supports AFP.
- HELIOS UB+ supports AFP on a whole array of different Unix based platforms.
- The open sourceFilesystem in Userspace (FUSE) and command-line client implementation afpfs-ng for Linux and Unix-like operating systems
- GroupLogicExtremeZ-IP (AFP 3.3) and MacServerIP for Windows offer AFP 3.x support - now AcronisAccess Connect.
- A few NAS solutions support AFP independently implemented (see also Netatalk solutions above): Adaptec's Snap Server (AFP 3.1), and Apple's AirPort Time Capsule (AFP 3.2).
- Jaffer is a Java implementation of Appletalk File Protocol v3.1.
- Xinet from North Plains Systems offers an AFP platform that can run on most Unix based platforms. One of their products, ka-share, has been a main stay on SolarisSPARC and Silicon GraphicsIRIX platforms.
- Columbia AppleTalk Protocol (CAP) was an open source implementation of AFP and AppleTalk from Columbia University that has been discontinued and has fallen out of use.
- supported by GVfs through gfvs-afp-volume-monitor[16]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ ab'AppleShare & AppleShare IP File Sharing: Chart of All Limitations'. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^'Mac OS 8, 9: Mac OS Extended Format - Volume and File Limits'. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^ abc'Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended Format - Volume and File Limits'. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^'Mac OS X Server 10.2: Tested and theoretical maximums (limits)'. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^'Mac OS X Server 10.3: Tested and theoretical maximums (limits)'. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^'Apple's Developer documentation on AFP Version Differences'. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^P. V. Anthony (2005-09-19). 'Netatalk / Re: [Netatalk-admins] Video Editing'. netatalk-admins (Mailing list). Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^'Serial port (Home Media)'. NAS-Central Iomega Wiki. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^'Release Notes'. unRAID Wiki. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^'napp-it // webbed ZFS NAS/SAN appliance for OmniOS, OpenIndiana and Solaris : Extensions'. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^'N0204 beta firmware V3.00.10.1'. Thecus. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^Ralph Böhme (September 22, 2011). 'Status of Netatalk and AFP support by NAS vendor, update'. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^Ralph Böhme (January 18, 2011). 'Status of Netatalk and AFP support by NAS vendor'. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^'Netatalk Release Notes'. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
- ^'11. Sharing'. FreeNAS® 11.2-U3 User Guide. 11.1. Apple (AFP) Shares. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
- ^'Back-ends for GVfs'.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apple_Filing_Protocol&oldid=982629332'
Native file sharing protocols always win out
In an intranet, network clients have several options, such as AFP, NFS and SMB/CIFS, to connect to their file server. But for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, the native client file sharing protocol is the right choice. So AFP is the best protocol for all Mac clients through OS X 10.8, SMB is the standard for Windows clients, and NFS is perfect between UNIX servers. With the release of OS X 10.9 “Mavericks”, Apple fully supports both SMB2 and AFP.
In an intranet, network clients have several options, such as AFP, NFS and SMB/CIFS, to connect to their file server. But for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, the native client file sharing protocol is the right choice. So AFP is the best protocol for all Mac clients through OS X 10.8, SMB is the standard for Windows clients, and NFS is perfect between UNIX servers. With the release of OS X 10.9 “Mavericks”, Apple fully supports both SMB2 and AFP.
In addition, remote users should be able to securely access server documents via web browser. And mobile users will appreciate a native app for server access and file sharing to their devices.
Smb Vs Afp Synology
NFS
NFS is good for UNIX server-to-server file sharing. However it is incompatible with Windows clients, and is useless for Mac file sharing clients due to missing features, and compatibility and performance problems with Mac apps.
NFS is good for UNIX server-to-server file sharing. However it is incompatible with Windows clients, and is useless for Mac file sharing clients due to missing features, and compatibility and performance problems with Mac apps.
SMB/CIFS
The native Windows network file sharing protocol is the preferred protocol for Windows clients.
The native Windows network file sharing protocol is the preferred protocol for Windows clients.
Afp Vs Smb Mac
AFP
AFP is clearly superior to SMB or NFS for Mac OS 8.1-OS X 10.8 clients
AFP is the native file and printer sharing protocol for Macs and it supports many unique Mac attributes that are not supported by other protocols. So for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, AFP should be used.
AFP is clearly superior to SMB or NFS for Mac OS 8.1-OS X 10.8 clients
AFP is the native file and printer sharing protocol for Macs and it supports many unique Mac attributes that are not supported by other protocols. So for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, AFP should be used.
Performance and reliability
- AFP offers significantly faster read/write performance than SMB or NFS
- AFP supports server-based “fast find file” support – essential for today's large systems
- Macs work more reliably and faster using AFP
- SMB1 is less stable
Compatibility and features
AFP provides the most compatible sharing with the Mac file system (HFS+). At present, other Mac protocols including NFS and SMB offer only a fraction of the performance and have limited compatibility.
AFP provides the most compatible sharing with the Mac file system (HFS+). At present, other Mac protocols including NFS and SMB offer only a fraction of the performance and have limited compatibility.
Click on table to enlarge view
OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” and later clients
Mavericks and its successor, OS X 10.10 (“Yosemite”), fully support both SMB2 and AFP. The preferred long-term protocol will be SMB2. HELIOS has a commitment to include full SMB2 support for Mavericks clients in the future. Switching to SMB2 too early will introduce major compatibility problems, therefore AFP is recommended by HELIOS for Mavericks clients. Macs using SMB2 with Windows or Linux servers have major limitations: missing Spotlight search support, missing server 'fast find file' support, missing ACL permission support, missing Time Machine backup support, missing Mavericks Finder tags support, and other incompatibilities. Only the Apple and a future HELIOS SMB2 server will support Spotlight searches over SMB2. We expect that Apple will make their SMB2 implementation more complete in future releases. At that time, customers will be able to use it without compatibility and performance problems.
Mavericks and its successor, OS X 10.10 (“Yosemite”), fully support both SMB2 and AFP. The preferred long-term protocol will be SMB2. HELIOS has a commitment to include full SMB2 support for Mavericks clients in the future. Switching to SMB2 too early will introduce major compatibility problems, therefore AFP is recommended by HELIOS for Mavericks clients. Macs using SMB2 with Windows or Linux servers have major limitations: missing Spotlight search support, missing server 'fast find file' support, missing ACL permission support, missing Time Machine backup support, missing Mavericks Finder tags support, and other incompatibilities. Only the Apple and a future HELIOS SMB2 server will support Spotlight searches over SMB2. We expect that Apple will make their SMB2 implementation more complete in future releases. At that time, customers will be able to use it without compatibility and performance problems.
Cross-platform file sharing – everyone wins
Business servers should therefore support cross-platform network file sharing for Mac, Windows, UNIX, Web, and mobile clients, via AFP, SMB/CIFS, SMB2, NFS, and HTTP. HELIOS Software is the only vendor to offer such integrated cross-platform networking, with their File Server Bundle comprised of EtherShare (AFP), PCShare (SMB/CIFS), WebShare (HTTP), and iPad Document Hub (iOS). Enterprise grade multi-user remote synchronization of files between the company server and user workstations and mobile devices is included as well. The suite is also fully compatible with NFS shares, and will add SMB2 support for future OS X versions.
Business servers should therefore support cross-platform network file sharing for Mac, Windows, UNIX, Web, and mobile clients, via AFP, SMB/CIFS, SMB2, NFS, and HTTP. HELIOS Software is the only vendor to offer such integrated cross-platform networking, with their File Server Bundle comprised of EtherShare (AFP), PCShare (SMB/CIFS), WebShare (HTTP), and iPad Document Hub (iOS). Enterprise grade multi-user remote synchronization of files between the company server and user workstations and mobile devices is included as well. The suite is also fully compatible with NFS shares, and will add SMB2 support for future OS X versions.
Note that integrated cross-platform networking is essential, so that different network client platforms can share the same server volumes without problem, and even take advantage of the features of other protocols. For example, HELIOS integration includes cross-platform support for file and record locking, user names, group names, user authentication, file system permissions, volume access permissions, file text and meta data indexing and searches, file labels and comments, HELIOS Admin, etc., while avoiding the redundancy, conflicts, and extra administrative overhead inherent in à la carte network protocol conglomerations.
Conclusion
Businesses and network administrators can no longer look at network client protocols in isolation. Rather, a holistic all-encompassing overview is necessary. Windows-centric networks must make room for server file sharing to Macs, mobile devices, and remote access via web browser. And Mac-centric networks must prepare to support both AFP and SMB2.
Businesses and network administrators can no longer look at network client protocols in isolation. Rather, a holistic all-encompassing overview is necessary. Windows-centric networks must make room for server file sharing to Macs, mobile devices, and remote access via web browser. And Mac-centric networks must prepare to support both AFP and SMB2.
HELIOS has over 20 years experience developing such cross-platform solutions, and makes deployment and support a one-vendor solution.