NFS Definition Stands for "Network File System." NFS is a protocol used to access files over a network. It was developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in 1989. The protocol is platform-independent, meaning it works across multiple operating systems and network configurations. While "file system" makes up two-thirds of the NFS acronym, the Network File System is not an actual file system like NTFS or APFS. Instead, it is a protocol that provides standard commands for accessing files ...