SMB concepts

NetApp

Vserver : Configuration > Protocols > CIFS : Understanding CIFS : SMB concepts

Clients can access files on a Vserver using the SMB protocol, provided that Data ONTAP can properly authenticate the user.

When a SMB client connects to a CIFS server, Data ONTAP authenticates the user with a Windows domain controller. Data ONTAP uses two methods to obtain the domain controllers to use for authentication:

•	It queries DNS servers in the domain that the CIFS server is configured to use for domain controller information.

•	It queries a list of preferred domain controllers you can optionally specify.

Next, Data ONTAP must obtain UNIX credentials for the user. It does this by using mapping rules on the Vserver or a LDAP server, or by using a default UNIX user instead. You can specify for a Vserver which mapping services are searched in which order, or specify a default UNIX user.

Data ONTAP then checks different name services for UNIX credentials for the user, depending on the name services configuration of a Vserver. The options are local UNIX accounts, NIS domains, and LDAP domains. You must configure at least one of them so Data ONTAP can successfully authorize the user. You can specify multiple name services and the order in which they are searched.

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