[ Thanks to Gene
Wilburn for this link. ]
“In last month’s installment, we set up a basic home network
with NICs, hub and cable, and assigned a private IP address range
(192.168.1.0-255) to our network. We then named our machines and
added the host names and corresponding IP addresses to the hosts
tables in Linux and Windows. We tested that everything worked using
ping to check for connectivity and name resolution.”
“This month we’ll set up Linux as a server on our shared
Linux/Windows network. We’ll implement a solution called Samba, a
versatile open-source product that allows us to integrate our Linux
and Windows computers into a single, seamless network.“
“Using Samba, Linux directories can appear in the Network
Neighborhood window of all your Windows machines. Samba is based on
SMB/CIFS (Server Message Block/Common Internet File System)
protocol, a Microsoft networking protocol that goes back to the
early Microsoft LAN Manager days and is still the foundation for
Windows NT/2000 networking.’
“Samba allows Linux to provide file and print services, mapping
Linux directories to Windows drive letters by creating “shares” for
directories and printing devices. With Samba, Windows users can
share a printer attached to a Linux box, and Linux users can share
a printer on a Windows box.”