Which protocols are commonly used for file sharing and for web traffic?

• A. NFS for file sharing; FTP for web
• B. SMB/CIFS for file sharing; HTTP/HTTPS for web
• C. SSH for file sharing; TLS for web
• D. FTP for file sharing; SMTP for web

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that different protocols specialize for different types of network activity. For sharing files on a local network, SMB/CIFS is the protocol designed to give users access to shared folders, manage permissions, and handle file locking across devices, especially in Windows environments. For web traffic, HTTP is the fundamental protocol used by clients to fetch web pages, and HTTPS adds TLS encryption to secure that communication, which is essential for protecting data in transit.

Other options mix protocols that aren’t as well suited to the two tasks when you look at common, broad usage. NFS is another file-sharing option, particularly in Unix/Linux contexts, but HTTP/HTTPS is the standard for web traffic. FTP is a file-transfer protocol, not the typical mechanism that serves web pages, and SSH/SFTP can transfer files but aren’t the standard pair for general file sharing or web traffic. TLS is a security layer used by HTTPS but isn’t itself a complete web-traffic protocol, and SMTP serves email, not web content.