A free and open source and free utility that gives network administrators the freedom to setup, configure and use the desired system and equipment
Samba is a handy open source and multi-platform utility that makes it easy for system and network administrators to easily setup, configure and use various systems and equipment.
Helps you gain access to print and file services
Samba delivers file and print services for different Microsoft Windows clients and it is capable to integrate with a Windows Server domain as a Primary Domain Controllers or as a domain member. The name comes from SMB, short for Server Message Block, the standard protocol used by the Microsoft Windows network file system.
These include data loss, file corruption, loss of essential Mac features (Spotlight search etc.) when connecting via SMB, and problems naming and saving files. So while Macs can connect via SMB to NAS devices, the result is a limited and compromised experience. Acronis Files Connect. Mac users can turn to NAS for huge cost and convenience benefits. SMB Manager is a full-featured SMB client for iOS as well as convenient file manager to store, view and manage files and documents. The application includes tools for viewing files on the remote.
The easy to configure Windows interoperability suite offers essential print and file services to CIFS and SMB clients, straightforward protocols for file and print sharing. Samba uses the TCP/IP protocol and enables the host to interact with a Windows server or client.
Enables you to access and use various servers with ease
Samba also offers a replacement for domain controllers and a reliable file and print server that acts as a member. Thanks to Samba you can gain access to SMB client that enables you to use PC printers and discs directly from your Mac.
On top of that, Samba offers an extension for PC backup, as well as a tool that supports NT administrative functionality. Consequently, Samba helps you with the migration process and supports the interoperability with Windows and other administration tools.
Quickly download and install Samba with a few command lines
In order to successfully compile Samba from source you first have to extract the contents of the downloaded archive, open a Terminal window, go to Samba’s folder and run the following commands from the command line:
./configuremakesudo make install
All things considered, Samba is a powerful albeit GUI-less free and open source suite designed from scratch to deliver seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients.
Filed under
Samba was reviewed by Sergiu Gatlan- Jeremy Allison :
- BUG 14497: CVE-2020-1472(ZeroLogon): s3:rpc_server/netlogon: Protect netr_ServerPasswordSet2 against unencrypted passwords.
- Günther Deschner :
Samba 4.13.0
add to watchlistsend us an update- runs on:
- Mac OS X (-)
- file size:
- 18.4 MB
- filename:
- samba-latest.tar.gz
- main category:
- Network/Admin
- developer:
- visit homepage
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Mac Smb Share
Native file sharing protocols always win out
In an intranet, network clients have several options, such as AFP, NFS and SMB/CIFS, to connect to their file server. But for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, the native client file sharing protocol is the right choice. So AFP is the best protocol for all Mac clients through OS X 10.8, SMB is the standard for Windows clients, and NFS is perfect between UNIX servers. With the release of OS X 10.9 “Mavericks”, Apple fully supports both SMB2 and AFP.
In addition, remote users should be able to securely access server documents via web browser. And mobile users will appreciate a native app for server access and file sharing to their devices.
NFS
NFS is good for UNIX server-to-server file sharing. However it is incompatible with Windows clients, and is useless for Mac file sharing clients due to missing features, and compatibility and performance problems with Mac apps.
SMB/CIFS
The native Windows network file sharing protocol is the preferred protocol for Windows clients.
AFP
AFP is clearly superior to SMB or NFS for Mac OS 8.1-OS X 10.8 clients
AFP is the native file and printer sharing protocol for Macs and it supports many unique Mac attributes that are not supported by other protocols. So for the best performance, and 100% compatibility, AFP should be used.
Performance and reliability
Smb Client For Mac
- AFP offers significantly faster read/write performance than SMB or NFS
- AFP supports server-based “fast find file” support – essential for today's large systems
- Macs work more reliably and faster using AFP
- SMB1 is less stable
Compatibility and features
AFP provides the most compatible sharing with the Mac file system (HFS+). At present, other Mac protocols including NFS and SMB offer only a fraction of the performance and have limited compatibility.
Click on table to enlarge view
OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” and later clients
Mavericks and its successor, OS X 10.10 (“Yosemite”), fully support both SMB2 and AFP. The preferred long-term protocol will be SMB2. HELIOS has a commitment to include full SMB2 support for Mavericks clients in the future. Switching to SMB2 too early will introduce major compatibility problems, therefore AFP is recommended by HELIOS for Mavericks clients. Macs using SMB2 with Windows or Linux servers have major limitations: missing Spotlight search support, missing server 'fast find file' support, missing ACL permission support, missing Time Machine backup support, missing Mavericks Finder tags support, and other incompatibilities. Only the Apple and a future HELIOS SMB2 server will support Spotlight searches over SMB2. We expect that Apple will make their SMB2 implementation more complete in future releases. At that time, customers will be able to use it without compatibility and performance problems.
Cross-platform file sharing – everyone wins
Business servers should therefore support cross-platform network file sharing for Mac, Windows, UNIX, Web, and mobile clients, via AFP, SMB/CIFS, SMB2, NFS, and HTTP. HELIOS Software is the only vendor to offer such integrated cross-platform networking, with their File Server Bundle comprised of EtherShare (AFP), PCShare (SMB/CIFS), WebShare (HTTP), and iPad Document Hub (iOS). Enterprise grade multi-user remote synchronization of files between the company server and user workstations and mobile devices is included as well. The suite is also fully compatible with NFS shares, and will add SMB2 support for future OS X versions.
Note that integrated cross-platform networking is essential, so that different network client platforms can share the same server volumes without problem, and even take advantage of the features of other protocols. For example, HELIOS integration includes cross-platform support for file and record locking, user names, group names, user authentication, file system permissions, volume access permissions, file text and meta data indexing and searches, file labels and comments, HELIOS Admin, etc., while avoiding the redundancy, conflicts, and extra administrative overhead inherent in à la carte network protocol conglomerations.
Conclusion
Businesses and network administrators can no longer look at network client protocols in isolation. Rather, a holistic all-encompassing overview is necessary. Windows-centric networks must make room for server file sharing to Macs, mobile devices, and remote access via web browser. And Mac-centric networks must prepare to support both AFP and SMB2.
Mac Smb Version
HELIOS has over 20 years experience developing such cross-platform solutions, and makes deployment and support a one-vendor solution.