network file system
A network file system is a distributed file system. It is used for file sharing and provides users and applications with access to data and files located on remote computers. These can be processed as if they were on the local computer.
Network users can access another file server from their computer via the network and work together on files.
The transparent access required for file operations is performed by file sharing protocols for the various operating systems. InUnix, Sun's Network File System( NFS) dominates and for Windows there is Microsoft's Server Message Block( SMB) and the Common Internet File System( CIFS).