Linux® Bible 2011 Edition: Boot up to Ubuntu®, Fedora®, KNOPPIX, Debian®, openSUSE®, and 13 Other Distributions

Chapter 18. Running a File Server

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Setting up an NFS file server in Linux

• Setting up a Samba file server in Linux

Most networked computers are on the network in the first place so that users can share information. Some users need to collectively edit documents for a project, share access to spreadsheets and forms used in the daily operation of a company, or perform any number of similar file-sharing activities. It also can be efficient for groups of people on a computer network to share common applications and directories of information needed to do their jobs. A file server is an efficient way to share files over a network.

You can secure files on your file servers using standard Linux ownership and file permissions, as well as using more advanced features such as firewalls and SELinux to protect the data in your files. Some file servers also can require authentication to access or change the files you share.

Linux systems include support for each of the most common file server protocols in use today. Among these are the Network File System (NFS), which has always been the file-sharing protocol of choice for Linux and other UNIX systems, and Samba (SMB protocol), which is often used by networks with many Windows and OS/2 computers.

Note

Coming from Windows

Samba allows you to share files with Windows PCs on your network, as well as access Windows file and print servers, making your Linux box fit in better with Windows-centric or mixed organizations.

This chapter describes ...