AppleTalk Filing Protocol (AFP)

AppleTalk Filing Protocol (AFP)

Before there was ever a Windows file sharing system in place, Apple had the AppleTalk Filing Protocol (AFP) for its AppleShare servers. AFP is the Presentation layer protocol that is used to
access AppleShare and Mac OS File Sharing files. It is the only protocol that accesses Apple- Share servers natively. Any system wanting to access an AppleShare server must be running
some version of AFP (or at least AFP over another transport protocol, like TCP/IP).

Note: 
See Chapter 2 for more on AFP.

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Real World scenario  

A Better Windows Server?

I was working at a local networking service establishment when I was presented with a problem.
A customer wanted a server capable of doing some file sharing. The server had to be
robust and capable of interacting with all of the company’s Windows clients. But they were at
the end of a budget cycle and the new budget wouldn’t be approved for at least a month and
they needed the server for one of their workgroups immediately. They had the hardware but
couldn’t afford the Windows 2000 Server licenses they needed and Windows 98 just wasn’t up
to par. The solution we came up with was to install Red Hat Linux on one of their machines and
then install Samba. It allowed them to have SMB-compatible file sharing and use their existing
Windows clients while not having to purchase a Windows server. To my knowledge, that server
is still running today.