* Understanding Samba through the geekspeak
I’ve mentioned Samba in this newsletter before http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nt/2003/0811nt2.html?rl, but a short refresher course might be in order.
Samba is an open source package, so the description from the documentation is a bit “high flown,” to whit: “Samba is a software package that gives network administrators flexibility and freedom in terms of setup, configuration, and choice of systems and equipment. Because of all that it offers, Samba has grown in popularity, and continues to do so, every year since its release in 1992.”
You will note, though, that this description doesn’t exactly tell you what the package does. So we looked a bit further afield and found a definition from John H. Terpstra, President of PrimaStasys and a co-founder of Samba.org. According to Terpstra: “Samba is software that can be run on a platform other than Microsoft Windows, for example, Unix, Linux, IBM System 390, OpenVMS, and other operating systems. Samba uses the TCP/IP protocol that is installed on the host server. When correctly configured, it allows that host to interact with a Microsoft Windows client or server as if it were a Windows file and print server.”
In other words, Samba makes a Unix or Linux host look like a Windows File Server. This gives Windows clients access to files stored on Unix/Linux but it also gives Unix/Linux clients access to files stored on Windows servers.
That sounds laudable, especially as you’re facing pressures to make your network more heterogeneous. But if you decide to acquire Samba, your first stop might be the samba.org download page https://us5.samba.org/samba/download/.
As long as you are fluent in “geek,” especially the Unix/Linux dialect, you should have no problem negotiating the download page to grab the files you need. But then you discover that, not only is the documentation written in geekspeak, but it’s also in bits, dribs and drabs assembled by a myriad of people over time and added to, cobbled up and stitched together to solve a particular problem that’s probably not even relevant to you. There’s no charge for the software but you might need to hire an interpreter in order to install, configure and maintain it.
I mentioned Terpstra a few paragraphs ago. He makes his living as one of those interpreters you can hire, but he’s now done an even better thing: he’s written a book to handle that interpretation for you. As he says in the introduction to “The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide” https://www.phptr.com/title/0131453556: “There is admittedly a large number of Samba books on the market today.” But, he adds, “Existing Samba books are largely addressed to the Unix administrator.” The organization has found that “Over the past two years many Microsoft network administrators have become interested in [Samba’s] deployment. Their information needs are very different from those of the Unix administrator. This book has been arranged and the information presented from the perspective of someone with previous Microsoft Windows network administrative training and experience.”
It’s a $49.95, 800-page tome, with a companion volume of exercises (“Samba-e By Example,” $44.99 also from Prentice Hall PTR).
If you’ve been interested in seeing if Samba can help you, but been daunted by the geekspeak which surrounds most open source projects, then this book and the companion volume might be just what you need. Check it out.
