Nfs – Which NFS server should we use on Windows Server 2008 R2

They removed that feature in w2008 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753302.aspx

User Name Mapping has changed—server functionality no longer exists, but client functionality is present. Services for NFS can still retrieve mappings from existing legacy User Name Mapping servers.

So you would need a w2003 server.

I haven't tried it in 2008, but the article implies you can use local accounts - if you select the AD option, does it proceed without a domain?

CIFS/SMB really should be your choice for Windows clients & servers - NFS can be very insecure without the hassle of Kerberos. Using SMB you get the standard Windows security model.

• Performance wise there is not not much much in it - possibly SMB is a bit faster.
• XP needs Windows Services for UNIX (here) to mount NFS
• Windows Server can only mount NFS shares not offer them. It has to use SMB.
• Reliability for an XP client mounting an NFS share from a Linux server so far has been fine, although we only have a couple of machines doing this.

In conclusion for a Windows server, NFS is not an option. For an XP client only use NFS if you have to - due to only having a Linux server when you don't want the hassle of setting up SAMBA