I have my slackware box and my buddy on my local network has a Suse box. How do I go about browsing and sharing files between the two? Now I am rather un-educated on this topic, so go easy on me, hehe.

-onelung

Easiest way would be to set up an FTP server. Edit /etc/inetd.conf and uncomment the vsftpd line. You may want to look at the conf file (/etc/vsftpd.conf) and set "Local_Enable=YES" so you can log in as a local user. Enable inetd, and you're up and running.

If you want to set up a Samba server sharing between the two computers, it's a little more work.

I have proftp running but I don't like how slow the tranfser time is, how would I go about setting up samba?

Hi!

http://druid.mine.nu:8880/Documentat...ileServer.html

another alternative is to use NFS (I think it's network file system or something). It works just like samba, but unlike Samba, you cannot connect to or from Windows shares, only Linux machines as far as I know.

I use Samba only on my computers, because I have one Windows machine and one Xbox on the same network. Samba works fine with Linux - Linux too, but somebody may recommend NFS for Linux - Linux activities.

Regards!

Samba is slower than FTP. It's the Windows filesharing system.

How slow are we talking? My MP3 collection takes about 45 minutes to download at 100mbit, and short of a mass deletion, there's nothing I can do about making it faster.

50 kb/s slow

Even with Samba, I usually see around 400kb/s over the 100mbit. (theoretical max is around 13mb/s, though the practical limit is around 8mb/s)

What's the hardware you're using to connect? Are you going through a router/NAT box, or a hub/switch, or a crossover cable?

Using a router/NAT box *could* cause that kind of crappy bandwidth if the NAT box needs a firmware update. Likewise, a direct cable can cause that kind of problem, if it connects at all, if you're using a straight cable, not a crossover.

hi i think NFS will work
first it will take some time to mount then it will work smoothly
you can mount it , like a partition in ur sys
or even u can add it to fstab

if the sharing is b/w windows and linux boxes - then use samba

regrds

If my understanding is clear

Samba uses the network connection rather than internet speed. ie internet is 4mb/s and the card is 100mb/s the files send at 100mb/s

Ftp goes through the internet, so the files would go at 4mb/s at the most.

FTP will use whatever bandwidth is available. When I said 8mbyte/s was doable through a 100mbit connection, it was because that's the speed I get when downloading through my 100mbit connection.

Samba, for some reason, is actually slower, and seems to prefer a cap around 400kbyte. I get faster speed than that using FTP through my 802.11b.

Ftp does not go through internet if the FTP server and
the FTP client are on local network...

If the transfer speed is 50kb/sec, there should be a
problem with ftp server config (if it has a limit bandwidth
feature) or with the net card, is it a wi-fi one ?

ok so FTP can be setup for a local network, that means samba would be useless.
FTP can be used on any os that has a ftp client ?

yes, you can even use any web browser as ftp client

obviously Andrew Tridgell would not spend alot time reverse engineering something that was not worth while, i am guessing he did it so *nix users could interact with windows users to share printers and files.

Using an FTP is only for files ?
to share a printer samba is the only way, if you want to share with a windows box.

FTP is only for files.

Samba is there to allow *nix users to share files/printers with Windows, and yes, that's the only reason.

And no, Samba is *not* the only way to share printers with a Windows box. It is the only way to share files, because Windows doesn't support NFS (I think Longhorn will, but no way am I going to buy, or even "borrow" that piece of crap with all the DRM and other stuff they're putting in it), but most definitely not the only way to share printers.

How do I know? Every single Windows client on my network is using CUPS/IPP to access the networked printers. Windows ME/2k/XP have innate IPP support, and Microsoft's patch to enable IPP in 95/98 is a free download. And IPP is a whole lot faster than Samba, because that's what I used to be using.