This chapter continues our discussion of disk shares from the previous chapter. Here, we will discuss various differences between the Windows and Unix filesystems - and how Samba works to bridge the gap. There are a surprising number of inconsistencies between a DOS filesystem and a Unix filesystem. In addition, we will talk briefly about name mangling, file locking, and a relatively new feature for Samba: opportunistic locking, or oplocks. However, before we move into that territory, we should first discuss the somewhat arcane topic of browsing with Samba.
Browsing is the ability to examine the servers and shares that are currently available on your network. On a Windows NT 4.0 or 95/98 client, a user can browse network servers through the Network Neighborhood folder. By double-clicking the icon representing the server, the user should be able to see the printer and disk share resources available on that machine as well. (If you have Windows NT 3.
x, you can use the Disk-Connect Network Drive menu in the File Manager to display the available shares on a server.)
From the Windows command line, you can also use the
net
view option to see which servers are currently on the network. Here is an example of the
net
view command in action:
C:\>
net view
Servers available in workgroup SIMPLE
Server name Remark
----------------------------------------------------------
\\CHIMAERA Windows NT 4.0
\\HYDRA Samba 2.0.4 on (hydra)
\\PHOENIX Windows 98
