The SMB block size is limited to less than 64kb per transaction, AFP uses 128 KB by default. SMB has significantly poorer read/write performance In summary, these are the general issues affecting SMB file servers for Mac OS X clients. The table below details the main differences, the primary one being performance. While Samba is useful for Windows clients that wish to access a non-Windows server, it cannot be recommended as Mac OS file-sharing solution over AFP. There are some other proprietary SMB implementations - since OS X Server 10.7, Apple replaced Samba with a proprietary equivalent. Samba is used both on Linux/Solaris servers, embedded in NAS devices and in some commercial SAN products. At the same time, for format specification for SMB changes with new releases of Microsofts server products, so other implementations are in a continual state of catch-up.
Hence, its successful implementation depends upon the unlikely scenario of the developers having catered for every packet contingency. Reverse engineering means that Samba was developed not from a formal Microsoft specification but by analysing many data packets on a network and inferring the mechanisms behind them. While Samba is a great product, it should be born in mind that the SMB protocol is proprietary to Microsoft and Samba and products like it are built by reverse-engineering Microsofts proprietary protocol. Samba provides both the client and server elements of the SMB protocol. A product which provides this is Samba - an open source project. It is also possible to run SMB file services on Unix-type operating systems.
Apple recommends only AFP which performs better over faster networks where large files need to be transferred - the norm in graphics/print/video environments where Macs are commonly used. In production/professional workflow environments, SMB is unlikely to be a sufficiently fast or robust solution. However, SMB is proprietary to Microsoft and was designed specifically for Windows clients whereas AFP was designed by Apple for Mac clients.
OS X supports SMB largely because there are many environments in which only Microsoft and other SMB servers are available on a network. Mac OS X clients can also use other protocols such as NFS and FTP. (SMB is also known as Common Internet File System or CIFS). Mac OS X clients can connect to network file servers using both the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) and the Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.
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