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

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