Strictly speaking, Samba, the
open-source Common Internet File System (CIFS) file and print server,
isn't a Linux product at all. Samba also can be found providing Windows NT
file and print services for FreeBSD, SCO UnixWare and even Solaris (thanks
to Veritas Software Corp.).
With Samba, almost any Unix machine can be transformed into an NT
server, at least from an end user's viewpoint. Samba also is fast. In our
recent review of Samba, we found that on modest single-processor
systems, Samba's NT services ran rings around NT's own services.
Samba isn't perfect, but most horror stories about its use are
exaggerated. Reports of corporations being halted in their tracks by
someone placing a Samba system in an NT network as a primary domain
controller (PDC) are completely misleading. Any NT network would come to a
howling halt with NT systems dueling for PDC superiority. As an ordinary
server or a backup domain controller (BDC), a Samba-equipped Linux box
works as smooth as silk on NT networks. In one Sm@rt Reseller
branch office, we've been running a pair of Samba boxes with NT PDC
and BDC boxes since March. During that time, we've never seen a hint of a
conflict.
Fast, stable and secure--so what needs improvement? Lots of things,
according to Jeremy Allison, a leading Samba developer and SGI
engineer.
Support for Samba as a PDC is a major, ongoing issue, which is "'bloody
hard." NT printer-driver support is almost there, but almost only counts
with horseshoes and hand grenades--not printers.
Another "exciting" project is WinBind. When successful, WinBind will
replace Linux user and group authentication with NT PDC access. In brief,
Samba users will have only a single log-in for access to all CIFS, NT, and
Samba file and print services. Currently, on hybrid NT/Unix networks, a
user must log in to the Linux box and then log in to the NT side to access
all available drives.
Samba also currently lacks the ability to map NT access control lists
(ACLs) to Portable Operating System Interface for Unix (Posix) ACLs. But,
it can map NT ACLs to standard Unix permissions. For many potential
customers--especially federal government offices--Posix compliance will
make Samba solutions much more compelling.
As it sits, Samba only works with the ASCII character set. SGI's
Allison is working to build Unicode support into Samba. Unicode is an
ASCII superset used to represent up to 65,356 characters instead of
ASCII's 256. That is important because Unicode is the character
representation set of choice for most non-Roman alphabets. Practically
speaking, Samba will become more viable for international customers after
that change is implemented.
Finally, the Samba team isn't just working on making Samba a better NT
than NT within its range. The group already is working on Windows 2000
"down- level" compatibility--the same level of Windows 2000
interoperability that NT 4 will have under Windows 2000 networks.
Face it: Thanks to Samba, Microsoft-style file-and-print serving is now
as ubiquitously available on Unix servers as it is on NT. Even better,
it's faster than NT on modest servers--and more stable.
Advantage: Samba.
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