The best replacement for nfs is cifs.

The best alternatives to nfs are rated as following:
★★★★★  cifs
★★★★★  samba
★★★★  smb
★★★★  iscsi
★★  san
★★  afp
★★  vmfs
★  nas
★  afs
★  ftp
★  cifs faster
★  smb performance
★  cifs performance
★  samba speed
★  iscsi vmware
★  iscsi faster
★  samba performance
  iscsi performance
  cifs share
  sshfs
  gt5
  nfd
  midnight club
  nfs4
  ntfs
  pershing
  smb xbmc
  gfs
  smb speed
  smb windows
  forza
  upnp
  gpfs
  fc
  fibre channel
  nis
  coda
  samba xbmc
  cluster file system

Your alternative for nfs is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about nfs, one probably shouldn't forget about kerberos.

Other search terms related to nfs and their ratings are:
★★★★★ kerberos
★★★★ nis
★★★ vmware
★★ portmap
★ zfs
★ autofs
★ openfiler
★ jumbo frames
★ tcp
You have in mind a companion for nfs and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of nfs in all years. Click on graph for more.
nfs
cifs
samba