The Definitive Guide to Samba 3 [Paperback]

Roderick W. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1590592778 | ISBN-13: 978-1590592779 | Edition: 1st

If you're familiar with Unix administration, TCP/IP networking, and other common Unix servers, and you want to learn how to deploy Samba, this book is ideal for you. With this book as a guide, you can quickly configure a basic Samba server and then move on to learn about Samba's more exotic features, including those new to Samba 3.0. The topics in this book are approached from both an experienced Unix user and an administrator's point of view, to help you optimize Samba.

Samba is an efficient file and print server that enables you to get the most out of your computer hardware. In Samba 3.0, many important features have been added, particularly in the realm of domain administration and membership, such as improved support for membership in Windows 200x domains and a wider array of authentication options. Samba also boasts several advanced features with which you can perform very complex tasks. For instance, Samba can control an NT domain, burn CD-Rs with drag-and-drop operations from the client, and function as part of a network backup system.

The Samba dance after which the server is named is known for its liveliness, and the server is similarly energetic and dynamic. So join in—you may make a misstep or two, but this book will help you avoid making too many, and you'll soon be doing the (TCP/IP) Samba along with the best!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cheridan Smith has been involved in Web development and design since 1997, when she began working on a research team for the "Y2K" millennium bug. It was here that she learnt about the Internet and promptly fell in love with the medium. In her career, she has been responsible for websites in the early 2000s, such as Weight Watchers Australia and Quicken.com.au, and worked as creative services manager of Yahoo! in Australia with clients such as Toyota, 20th Century Fox and Ford. She works as a senior interactive project manager for an Australian advertising agency.

Product Details

• Paperback: 648 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1st edition (January 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590592778
• ISBN-13: 978-1590592779
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,097,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Emphasis on new features, July 24, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Definitive Guide to Samba 3 (Paperback)

A few years ago, Samba came on the scene as an effective and cheap [free!] way to get unix and Microsoft Windows machines on a common network to do file sharing. Very popular. In late 2003, the latest major revision was released, Samba 3. Now this text gives an independent and indepth evaluation of all its features.

My impression from this book is that if you're already using Samba 2 and just upgrade to 3, you can essentially do all your existing procedures unchanged. Apart from bug fixes, of course, Samba 3 is, to good approximation, a superset of Samba 2. Makes the transition easier. This does mean that if you are using Samba 2, and have a text for it, and you upgrade, you may not really need this book.

Ah, but when it comes to specifically new features, then the book shines. Smith goes into sometimes excrutiating details about items like improved Unicode handling and Active Directory integration. He points out the useful features; the details of which can be nontrivial, and which form the key sections of the narrative.

All this is pitched to someone [you] that he assumes to be a unix sysadmin who has at least several months experience. Don't be intimidated by the length of the text. Sections are usable on an as-needed basis. In other words, you don't have to plough through all or even most of it, before you can start doing useful activities with Samba 3.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for Samba Administrators, August 15, 2006

By 

J. P. Mens (Germany, Europe) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Definitive Guide to Samba 3 (Paperback)

Roderick W. Smith is the author of several books on Linux/Unix computing, including Apress' very good offering aptly titled The Definitive Guide to Samba 3.

On six hundred pages, the author explains just about everything there is to know about SMB and CIFS, with a focus on the free Samba implementation. That is the first part of the book.

The second part of the book introduces Samba configuration as well as configuring file and printer shares and managing Samba accounts. This is then followed by more advanced topics such as the configuration of a master browser and a domain controller. The chapters on Securing Samba and that on Samba's Interactions with other protocols are worth the price of the book by themselves.

Part four is dedicated to a huge number of Samba Tips & Tricks which include the migration of a Windows domain to Samba and backups, as well as a chapter on troubleshooting.

Once again, and as usual, I missed an in-depth discussion of integrating Samba with LDAP. The author rightly points out that it is a difficult proposition, and he unfortunately only skims over the LDAP-related parameters of Samba.

All in all, this is an excellent book for any systems administrator who is either undertaking the installation of Samba or who wants to know more about its innards.