Communicator 3000 MPE/iX Release 6.0 (Platform Software Release C.60.00) (30216-90269)

236 Chapter 10
Technical Articles
Introducing Samba/iX
Introducing Samba/iX
by Wendy Cheng
Commercial Systems Division
Overview
Samba/iX is a suite of programs which work together to allow clients to
access a server's file space and printers via the Server Message Block
(SMB) protocol. Samba is the Server Message Block (SMB) file server
that runs on MPE/iX shell operating system on MPE/iX release 6.0. It
allows the MPE/iX shell operating system to act as a file and printer
server for SMB clients which are mainly for Microsoft LAN Manager
and compatible products. These compatible clients can be Windows for
Workgroups, Windows 95, Windows NT, or other clients.
Initially Samba/iX was written for UNIX, now it also runs on MPE/iX,
NT, and other operating systems. Samba/iX provides the file and
printer sharing services between NT and HP 3000 systems. In practice,
the user can redirect disks and printers to MPE disks and printers from
Windows NT, Windows 95, LAN Manager, or other clients.
A generic UNIX program that is part of the Samba/iX suite has also
been ported to MPE/iX Shell operating system. This program allows
UNIX or MPE users to use an FTP-like interface to access file space and
printers on any other SMB servers. This capability enables these
operating systems to act like a LAN server or Windows NT server.
Major Components
Samba/iX contains programs like SMBD and NMBD to provide server
functionality and also contains utilities like SMBCLIENT or NMBLOOKUP
to provide client functionality. The following lists the major components
of Samba/iX:
•ASMBD program is part of Samba/iX suite. A SMBD process is a
server that can provide file and printer services to clients using the
SMB protocol. This is compatible with the LAN Manager protocol
and can service LAN Manager clients. This program provides
selected server directories accessible across the LAN. Typical clients
are PCs that use Windows 95 or Windows NT to access the server
"share" as "network drive."
•ANMBD program provides browsing support, it helps clients to view
which workgroups, servers and shares are available on a LAN.