Native file sharing protocols always win out
In an intranet, network clients have several options, such as AFP, NFS and SMB/CIFS, to connect to their file server. But for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, the native client file sharing protocol is the right choice. So AFP is the best protocol for all Mac clients through OS X 10.8, SMB is the standard for Windows clients, and NFS is perfect between UNIX servers. With the release of OS X 10.9 “Mavericks”, Apple fully supports both SMB2 and AFP.
In addition, remote users should be able to securely access server documents via web browser. And mobile users will appreciate a native app for server access and file sharing to their devices.
NFS(Network File Share)
NFS is good for UNIX server-to-server file sharing. However it is incompatible with Windows clients, and is useless for Mac file sharing clients due to missing features, and compatibility and performance problems with Mac apps.
SMB/CIFS (Server Message Block)
The native Windows network file sharing protocol is the preferred protocol for Windows clients.
AFP(Apple Filing Protocol)
AFP is clearly superior to SMB or NFS for Mac OS 8.1-OS X 10.8 clients
AFP is the native file and printer sharing protocol for Macs and it supports many unique Mac attributes that are not supported by other protocols. So for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, AFP should be used.
source: www.helios.de