Server Message Block (SMB) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) are Windows filesharing protocols used in storage systems. You can add data to Data Catalog from a filesharing protocol CIFS or SMB to the remote agent or local agent, thereby enabling the creation of a data source as CIFS or SMB with the local file system path.
This protocol uses a client-server model where the server provides the shared file system and the client mounts the file system to access the shared files as if they were on a local disk. You can add data to the Data Catalog from any file-sharing network system if it is transferrable via the Server Message Block (SMB) and Common Internet File System (CIFS).