Hello!

I run a photo lab with heavy graphic design projects. By heavy, I mean folders with big files in them (250 MB range). A month ago I decided to go to all Linux servers for my file shares. Client machines run Windows XP or in some cases Windows 2000. When I try to copy a typical design folder to a production computer from the Linux server (via Samba), I get a Windows status report of "55 Minutes" to copy the needed files. When I copy that same folder using VSFTP, it takes about 10-20 seconds over our Gigabit network.

From what I have read on-line, Samba has problems handling large files. Okay, I can use something other than Samba, but FTP is not the answer. You see, I also need my lab techs to be able to open a file across the network in Photoshop or Illustrator, modify it and then save it back to its place on the Linux file server. We do this because different people can work on the same file at different times, hence the centralized location. We also want to skip the copy file here, there nightmare of trying to manage multiple copies of the same file (which is why we are using a server in the first place).

Has anyone solved this problem? Is there another Windows-Linux protocol that doesn't choke on large file transfers? That is browseable via a Windows network?

Your help is greatly appreciated, as always.

TW

I'm not sure, since it's been a LONG time since I've used Windows, but can't you map a network drive via the FTP protocol? That may work for you, or you could use SSH (the SCP command), to do it. Windows may also have an NFS client available, and you can use NFS to map a network drive....

Here is how to share a browseable Windows folder on a Linux server.

FTP is rocket fast, so I created a network share in Windows using FTP. Once you get out of Samba, here are the basic steps:

1. Create an FTP server on your Linux machine using VSFTP.
2. In Windows XP, right-click on My Computer and select "Map Network Drive."
3. In the Map Network Drive dialogue, choose the very bottom option (looks like a hyperlink) "Sign-up for Network Storage or Connect to a Network Server". This brings you to the "Add Network Place" wizard.
4. When it asks where you want to create the network place, choose "Choose Another Network Location."
5. In internet or IP address, type the location of your Linux VSFTP server, in this format ftp://192.168.1.112
6. Logon autonomously or using a password, depending on your VSFTP set-up.
7. Create a name. Can be anything, but be descriptive.
8. When you click finish, it will take you to a web folder via FTP. If you close that folder and browse to it through My Network Places, it acts like a drive on your Windows XP computer. You can write/open via any program interface like Photoshop or Illustrator through Network Places.

And there you have it. A browseable, high-speed file share for Windows clients and Linux servers.

TW

Even we are using samba server in our office. For me it took just 40Seconds for 391.6Mb of file to transfer from WinXp-SAMBA-WinXP.i am using RHEL5Server 32-bit. In your case what Os you are using and what is samba server's configuration(Processor,it's speed,RAM)?

I am not at work right now. I will get you the specs as soon as I am back there. Thanks.

I don't think FTP is the answer. We are having better luck with transferring folders with large files from Linux server to XP desktop (transfer time is way down).

HOWEVER, the FTP network shares are not working as expected. When using Photoshop, for example, we cannot open multiple files via the FTP network share. We can open one file at a time, but as soon as you select multiple files to open, it barks a "File Not Found" error.

Now I am back to a possible Samba share? Can anyone confirm that Samba is natively very slow on large file transfers?

Here is my smb.conf file. Is there something wrong here?

Thanks




# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too
# many!) most of which are not shown in this example
#
# For a step to step guide on installing, configuring and using samba,
# read the Samba-HOWTO-Collection. This may be obtained from:
# http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/Samb...Collection.pdf
#
# Many working examples of smb.conf files can be found in the
# Samba-Guide which is generated daily and can be downloaded from:
# http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/Samba-Guide.pdf
#
# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash)
# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #
# for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you
# may wish to enable
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command "testparm"
# to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors.
#
#======================= Global Settings =====================================
[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name, eg: MIDEARTH
workgroup = ssp

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = Storehouse1b

# Security mode. Defines in which mode Samba will operate. Possible
# values are share, user, server, domain and ads. Most people will want
# user level security. See the Samba-HOWTO-Collection for details.
security = user

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
load printers = yes

# you may wish to override the location of the printcap file
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

# on SystemV system setting printcap name to lpstat should allow
# you to automatically obtain a printer list from the SystemV spool
# system
; printcap name = lpstat

# It should not be necessary to specify the print system type unless
# it is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, cups, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx
; printing = cups

# This option tells cups that the data has already been rasterized
cups options = raw

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to /etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
; guest account = pcguest

# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
max log size = 50

# Added by T.W. 11-16-08 to add /pano back up share
[designs1]
comment = Graphic Design Drive 1
path = /designs1
valid users = root ssplab
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0760

# Added by T.W. 11-16-08 to add /designs share
[designs2]
comment = Graphic Design Drive 2
path = /designs2
valid users = root ssplab
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0760

# Added by T.W. 11-16-08 to add /miscellaneous share
[eventsbu]
comment = Events Back-Up Drive from 1A
path = /eventsbu
valid users = root ssplab
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0760

# Use password server option only with security = server
# The argument list may include:
# password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]
# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s
# password server = *
; password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Use the realm option only with security = ads
# Specifies the Active Directory realm the host is part of
; realm = MY_REALM

# Backend to store user information in. New installations should
# use either tdbsam or ldapsam. smbpasswd is available for backwards
# compatibility. tdbsam requires no further configuration.
; passdb backend = tdbsam

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting.
# Note: Consider carefully the location in the configuration file of
# this line. The included file is read at that point.
; include = /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf.%m

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24

# Browser Control Options:
# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
; local master = no

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
; os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job
; domain master = yes

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
; preferred master = yes

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for
# Windows95 workstations.
; domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
; logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
; logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)
# %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username
# You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
; logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS Server
; wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
; wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
; wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The default is NO.
dns proxy = no

# These scripts are used on a domain controller or stand-alone
# machine to add or delete corresponding unix accounts
; add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd %u
; add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g
; add machine script = /usr/sbin/adduser -n -g machines -c Machine -d /dev/null -s /bin/false %u
; delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel %u
; delete user from group script = /usr/sbin/deluser %u %g
; delete group script = /usr/sbin/groupdel %g


#============================ Share Definitions ==============================
;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no
; writable = yes

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
; [netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /usr/local/samba/lib/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; writable = no
; share modes = no


# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
;[Profiles]
; path = /usr/local/samba/profiles
; browseable = no
; guest ok = yes


# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to
# specifically define each individual printer
;[printers]
; comment = All Printers
; path = /usr/spool/samba
; browseable = no
# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print
; guest ok = no
; writable = no
; printable = yes

# This one is useful for people to share files
;[tmp]
; comment = Temporary file space
; path = /tmp
; read only = no
; public = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in
# the "staff" group
;[public]
; comment = Public Stuff
; path = /home/samba
; public = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; write list = @staff

# Other examples.
#
# A private printer, usable only by fred. Spool data will be placed in fred's
# home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory,
# wherever it is.
;[fredsprn]
; comment = Fred's Printer
; valid users = fred
; path = /homes/fred
; printer = freds_printer
; public = no
; writable = no
; printable = yes

# A private directory, usable only by fred. Note that fred requires write
# access to the directory.
;[fredsdir]
; comment = Fred's Service
; path = /usr/somewhere/private
; valid users = fred
; public = no
; writable = yes
; printable = no

# a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects
# this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could
# also use the %U option to tailor it by user name.
# The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting.
;[pchome]
; comment = PC Directories
; path = /usr/pc/%m
; public = no
; writable = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that all files
# created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so
# any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this
# directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of course
# be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead.
;[public]
; path = /usr/somewhere/else/public
; public = yes
; only guest = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two
# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this
# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the
# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to
# as many users as required.
;[myshare]
; comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff
; path = /usr/somewhere/shared
; valid users = mary fred
; public = no
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; create mask = 0765

Right now I am testing Novell Net Drive over FTP. http://www.theblog.ca/novell-netdrive

The Novell Net Drive program crashed a couple of Intel Duo Core systems. Had to switch to a pay service, http://www.netdrive.net/

Seems very solid thus far.