Network Appliance Corp, which came out in support of Common Internet File System a few weeks back (CI No 2,934), has its first Common Internet File System product already in beta test, and says it should be out by the fall (one source said within 45 days). Network Appliance’s product thrust is one of native implementations of multiple protocols, and its Common Internet File System product will include a native file system implementation, avoiding the usual emulation bottleneck – Network Appliance servers, of course, use a proprietary microkernel operating system rather than Unix. It won’t be giving up on Network File System, and continues to track WebNFS, which it expects to follow the Network File System standard and to be part of the next Network File System release. Network Appliance needs a faster alternative to HyperText Transfer Protocol for large file transfers, though it admits that what is there in Common Internet File System at the moment is just the tip of the iceberg and to start with it will be used, as Server Message Block is, for connecting up personal computer desktops rather than for Internet-intranet. The key to that will be mainstream browser support, yet to be declared. To support WebNFS within a browser requires source code changes that neither Netscape Communications Corp nor Microsoft Corp have so far committed to make. Network Appliance already does 20% of its business as an Internet service provider, although for network storage rather than serving. Both Common Internet File System and WebNFS will be able to receive HyperText Mark-up Language files.
