Network filesystem mounts allow computers to connect and freely pass files between them via a network. In Linux, the most common network Linux Mounts are NFS (Network File System) and SMB (Server Message Block).
NFS (Network File System)
NFS is a common Unix-based file sharing option, usually used between Linux systems. It allows remote directories to function like local storage.
The command to mount an NFS share is:
mount -t nfs <server>:/<remote-path> <local-mountpoint>Note
NFS on its own has no authentication mechanism, so even between Linux computers it may not be the correct option.
SMB (Server Message Block)
SMB is often used for cross-platform between different operating systems.
SMB itself uses the CIFS1 protocol, which is a standard Windows file sharing protocol, and works in other systems too.
A command to mount an SMB/CIFS share is:
mount -t cifs //<server>/<share> <local-mountpoint> -o username=<user>,password=<password>Note that this by default requires authentication, unlike NFS (Network File System). There are also options to create CIFS files that contain the credential parameters, rather than passing them into a terminal every time.
Footnotes
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Common Internet File System ↩