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Alright I know i've asked questions similar to this in the past but I have never come to a complete resolution on the issue and this discussion in my mind has been keeping me up at night.
I'm doing the initial work for my first home server and i'm currently playing around with file-share options. While the server will perform multiple functions, i'm trying to decide between linux and Windows Server 2003 for the file sharing capabilities. While the server may eventually expose file-shares through FTP or some other method, i'm just thinking about home network sharing for now. Basically I would like to be able to expose various file shares, some public and some private (password protected, restricted access, whatever).
So i've gotten Samba setup through Ubuntu far enough that I can log onto the shares from a windows machine using a user/password. However, since I don't know much about Linux at the moment, i'm worried that developing and maintaining this server might be more work than I want? I'm wondering if I really get any advantages using a linux server instead of Win2k3?
My second question involves networking windows computers without a domain or active directory. I have tried in the past to set up a passworded or authenticated file share using "Advanced Sharing" options in XP Pro and have not had any luck yet. The reason for this is I believe that say computer1 has a user1 and computer2 also has a user1 (so now you've added the same account on both machines)...still windows has no idea whether user1 from computer1 is the same user1 from computer2. So is it even possible to have passworded or authenticated file shares with Server 2003 or XP Pro without setting up active directory?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated...or if i'm just completely off-base i'm up for new ideas as well.
I'm doing the initial work for my first home server and i'm currently playing around with file-share options. While the server will perform multiple functions, i'm trying to decide between linux and Windows Server 2003 for the file sharing capabilities. While the server may eventually expose file-shares through FTP or some other method, i'm just thinking about home network sharing for now. Basically I would like to be able to expose various file shares, some public and some private (password protected, restricted access, whatever).
So i've gotten Samba setup through Ubuntu far enough that I can log onto the shares from a windows machine using a user/password. However, since I don't know much about Linux at the moment, i'm worried that developing and maintaining this server might be more work than I want? I'm wondering if I really get any advantages using a linux server instead of Win2k3?
My second question involves networking windows computers without a domain or active directory. I have tried in the past to set up a passworded or authenticated file share using "Advanced Sharing" options in XP Pro and have not had any luck yet. The reason for this is I believe that say computer1 has a user1 and computer2 also has a user1 (so now you've added the same account on both machines)...still windows has no idea whether user1 from computer1 is the same user1 from computer2. So is it even possible to have passworded or authenticated file shares with Server 2003 or XP Pro without setting up active directory?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated...or if i'm just completely off-base i'm up for new ideas as well.