Samba-3 By Example - TechBookReport

Keywords: Linux, Unix, networks, Windows NT

Title: Samba-3 By Example

Author: John H. Terpstra

Publisher: Prentice Hall

ISBN: 0131472216

Media: Book, CD

Level: All levels

Verdict: A real sharing of knowledge. Recommended

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Who doesn't love to Samba these days? It's one of the joys of Linux and open source, and one of the keys to infiltrating Linux boxes into Windows shops. However, there's a world of difference between setting up a basic file and print box and moving a complete Windows environment over to Linux. It can be a steep learning curve, which is where John Terpstra, author of the Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide, does us all a big favour with this book.

Starting with the most basic of configurations, this book shows us how to achieve increasingly complex migrations from Windows. From a simple small office network right through to distributed 2000-user networks to migrating an NT4 domain, the reader is walked through step-by-step, with detailed explanations of how and why things have to be done. Each scenario comes complete with configuration files, installation details, network settings etc. Additionally each scenario comes complete with a FAQ to mop up those questions not answered in the main body of the text.

The writing is clear and to the point, with an emphasis on the why as well as the how. It reads like the distillation of years of hard-won experience, and it enables the rest of us to apply that hard-won experience in our own networks.

Aside from the different example scenarios (which cover the first 9 chapters), the book also includes a number of chapters which look at a number of other topics. Chapter 10 looks at Active Directory, Kerberos and Security. Chapter 11 moves on to adding additional services to your Samba-3 network, including the Squid proxy server. The final chapter of the book looks at performance, reliability and availability issues.

The CD includes the binaries for Samba -3.02, (for SuSE and Fedora Core 1), as well as all of the example config files and scripts from each chapter of the book. While the binaries are of limited use, (let's face it, a download of the latest stable release is only a download away), having the sample configurations to hand is a real bonus.

What more is there to say? This is an absolute mine of useful information, and is perfect for anyone involved in migrating a network, of whatever size, to Linux.

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