<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> Samba Server FAQ: What is Samba?</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Previous <A HREF="Samba-Server-FAQ-2.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Samba-Server-FAQ.html#toc1">Table of Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s1">1. What is Samba?</A></H2> <P> <A NAME="WhatIsSamba"></A> </P> <P>See the <A HREF="Samba-meta-FAQ.html#introduction">meta FAQ introduction</A> if you don't have any idea what Samba does.</P> <P>Samba has many features that are not supported in other CIFS and SMB implementations, all of which are commercial. It approaches some problems from a different angle.</P> <P>Some of its features include: <UL> <LI>extremely dynamic runtime configuration</LI> <LI>host as well as username/password security</LI> <LI>scriptable SMB client</LI> <LI>automatic home directory exporting</LI> <LI>automatic printer exporting</LI> <LI>intelligent dead connection timeouts</LI> <LI>guest connections</LI> </UL> </P> <P>Look at the <A HREF="samba-man-index.html">manual pages</A> included with the package for a full list of features. The components of the suite are (in summary):</P> <P> <DL> <DT><B>smbd</B><DD><P>the SMB server. This handles actual connections from clients, doing all the interfacing with the <A HREF="Samba-meta-FAQ.html#DomainModeSecurity">authentication database</A> for file, permission and username work.</P> <DT><B>nmbd</B><DD><P>the NetBIOS name server, which helps clients locate servers, maintaining the <A HREF="Samba-meta-FAQ.html#BrowseAndDomainDefs">authentication database</A> doing the browsing work and managing domains as this capability is being built into Samba.</P> <DT><B>smbclient</B><DD><P>the scriptable commandline SMB client program. Useful for automated work, printer filters and testing purposes. It is more CIFS-compliant than most commercial implementations. Note that this is not a filesystem. The Samba team does not supply a network filesystem driver, although the smbfs filesystem for Linux is derived from smbclient code.</P> <DT><B>smbrun</B><DD><P>a little 'glue' program to help the server run external programs.</P> <DT><B>testprns</B><DD><P>a program to test server access to printers</P> <DT><B>testparms</B><DD><P>a program to test the Samba configuration file for correctness</P> <DT><B>smb.conf</B><DD><P>the Samba configuration file</P> <DT><B>examples</B><DD><P>many examples have been put together for the different operating systems that Samba supports.</P> <DT><B>Documentation!</B><DD><P>DON'T neglect to read it - you will save a great deal of time!</P> </DL> </P> <HR> Previous <A HREF="Samba-Server-FAQ-2.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Samba-Server-FAQ.html#toc1">Table of Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>