Notes: CS 790 Course Project — Samba
Samba
History
Development Purpose
– UNIX in a Windows dominated world. Cross platform interoperability of file
and printing services.
– Reverse engineered from Microsoft’s proprietary CIFS (Common Internet File
System) and SMB (Server Message Block).
– Similar to network file systems.
– Several transport protocols that it suppports: NetBIOS, TCP/IP, etc.
– Platform independence to access personal files.
– Interoperability.
– Open source development model. Multiple developers.
Key Features
– File and printer sharing. Remote access to files and printers on a network
whether it is a UNIX or Windows machine.
– User authentication and authorization. Security measures and access controls
for files and printers.
– network name resolution. Mapping of a machines IP address to its identification
on a network neighborhood.
– network browsing. Allows graphical browsing of files and printers similar to
Windows File Explorer.
– Transparent interoperability with Window’s network neighborhood.
Windows Network Neighborhood
– Samba strives for being a peer in this aspect of Windows.
– Collection of machines that share files and printer resources.
– Centralized workgroup access to the files as well as authorization.
– Domain controller centralized authentication entity.
SMBD
– Samba’s SMB implementation
– Responsible for receiving service requests from client and provides the shared
file or printer service.
NMBD
– Samba’s naming resoultion and network browsing component.
Authorization Component
