Understanding SMB Versions: A Complete Guide to Secure and Efficient File Sharing

SMB File version and Features Upgrade in NetApp

SMB1 ->

In SMB1, there were no features but there's a volume move feature is supported in NetApp. This version of SMB is slow and also has security risks because it uses the MD5 hashing algorithm. The Windows support for this was also ended in the year of 2015.

SMB2 ->

In SMB2, NetApp added a feature called durable handles. Also, the NDO capabilities added as it supports volume move operation and Lif-Migration. It was a major rewrite of the SMB Protocol.

SMB3 ->

In SMB3, it starts supporting durable handles and Persistant handles along with the extensive support of Volume move, Lif-migration, Aggregate-Relocation, Storage-Failover and Non-Desruptive Upgrades. In SMB2, it doesn't mirror data from one node to another but after SMB3 introduction it now mirrors the data across the nodes.

Now, some terms that is mentioned above is described below:

Durable handles ->

A durable handle is like a "save point" for your connection to a file. If you're working on a file stored on a server and your network connection suddenly drops, a durable handle allows you to reconnect to the server and pick up right where you left off, without losing access to the file.

Persistant handles ->

They are designed to survive a failure of the node hosting the SMB share. For instance, if a node in a NetApp cluster fails, the persistent handle allows the client to seamlessly reconnect to the file through another node without data loss or interruption.

Feel free to comment any questions, it will help me grow and gain more knowledge in NetApp.