Protocol Operation Overview

In order to access a file on a server, a client has to:

• Parse the full file name to determine the server name, and the relative name within that server.
• Resolve the server name to a transport address (this may be cached)
• Make a connection to the server (if no connection is already available)
• Exchange CIFS messages (see below for an example)

This process may be repeated as many times as desired. Once the connection has been idle for a while, it may be torn down.