Final answer:
SMB/CIFS is a protocol mainly used by Microsoft Windows for shared network access to files and directories. It is not commonly used by Linux distributions or for multimedia communications over IP networks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The characteristics of SMB/CIFS, which stands for Server Message Block/Common Internet File System, are as follows:
- The SMB/CIFS protocol is not used mainly by computers running Linux distributions; it is more commonly associated with Microsoft environments.
- SMB/CIFS provides shared access to files, directories, and devices on a network, allowing multiple users to access and edit files as if they were local to their systems.
- It is used mainly by computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems, as it was developed by Microsoft for network file sharing.
- SMB/CIFS does not enable voice and multimedia communications over IP networks; this is a function typically associated with protocols like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).