Samba And Netatalk - Is There A Better Solution? 21
Traverser asks: "I'm looking for a solution that allows Windows and Apple users to share a file store. Samba works great for the Windows systems. Netatalk works great for the Apple users. But each solution has its own style of file locking on the server: which means that if the same file were opened under Netatalk and Samba at the same time, there is a chance the file would become corrupt and unusable. Putting Dave on the Macintosh provided further layers of troubles. The WindowsNT AppleTalk driver doesn't seem to like Netatalk. WebDAV seems like a good alternative, except the tools are not mature enough on the Macintosh side to put in a production enviorment. NFS seems like a better solution, except the price per client suggests moving towards a commercial solution. Novell has moved support of the Netware Macintosh client to ProSoft Engineering. The current Novell client is still buggy and there is no visible development for a new client. I hate to say it but I'm back to the Microsoft solution. I really hope I'm missing something..."
AFS (Score:4)
I haven't tried it but it is described here [umich.edu].
There are also AFS clients for Windows, and Samba is supposedly "AFS-Aware."
It's worth a shot.
Samba and Netatalk (or DAVE!) (Score:2)
I'm also interested in alternatives, because I will shortly be implementing a system for batch image processing in a production environment, and it will need to talk to a whole bunch of Macs, and one Windoz PC.
I haven't looked too closely at the file locking side of things, because I've been concentrating on network performance (throughput)
Interesting thought on the above - Appleshare over IP - throughput is faster, but is glacially slow in listing directory contents, yet over Appletalk directory listing is an order of magnitude faster - go figure!
Helios (Score:2)
For a commercial implementation that really pays back I would recommend Helios EtherShare and PCshare. It runs very fast on Linux and can also handle huge files for transfers. It's one of the fastest or the fastest available solutions and very widely used in the graphics arts industry.
OK, the price tag is pretty high, but if it is for commercial duties where it pays back it's certainly worth checking out.
There's a very good article written by Jeff Wall on the subj of file sharing in connection with Macs. He compares different server side software on different architectures, including Linux, Winducks, Solaris, MacOS, and I believe AIX, Irix, and *BSD as well. Search the web for the article and decide which might be best for you.
For high duty Helios is great (just compare the numbers!), for average duty you will be probably best off using some open source stuff.
Guy
Samba on Linux or ? (Score:2)
Novell support (Score:1)
Samba + Netatalk (Score:1)
Re:AFS (Score:2)
The Arla client works very well, but I don't think the server is considered stable. I'm not sure about the server side of OpenAFS either.
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Mac OS X... (Score:2)
When Mac OS X server comes out, it will natively host AFP, Samba, NFS, FTP and WebDAV out of the box. http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/
Options (Score:1)
One of the options would be to get a Snap Server as someone mentioned. These hook up to the network easily, they require little maintenance, they work well and they would solve your problem fairly well. Snap servers are also relatively inexpensive.
Another option is the dedicated server appliance type of thing. These are often preconfigured to do just the kind of file sharing. If you want to support open source development, these often use open source tools, but precompiled, tweaked and made to work easily.
Another option is to get an older Mac and use AppleShare IP. AppleShare IP does support filesharing for Windows and Mac clients and does a reasonably good job at it. AS:IP is easy to setup and doesn't need a lot of equipment (it can run well on a G3 iMac or Tower).
For a more expensive option that would require waiting you can look to OS X Server, which will support filesharing between a variety of systems, including providing NFS shares as well as SMB and AppleShare. However, OSX Server will not be available until March and will require newer hardware to function well. AppleShare IP is being transferred into OSX Server, so that will be the eventual official upgrade path should you choose to go with AS:IP now, however, there will undoubtedly be other options and possibly the Open Source products will be stable and robust enough to meet your needs then that you could install LinuxPPC or one of the BSD's on the PowerMac box being used as the AS:IP server.
DoubleTalk (Score:1)
http://www.connectix.com/products/dt.html
It's $99 a copy.
Commercial worked for me! (Score:1)
I think Miramar is at http://www.miramarsys.com
Re:Helios (Score:3)
Incidentally, I don't know if anyone here has mentioned this but the netatalk project has recently been revived after years of stagnating at 1.4b2+asun. They're working on a 1.5 release - it's worth checking out to see if the Samba locking problem is fixed. I know that is an often-requested feature. See sourceforge.net/projects/netatalk
Some other *nix Appleshare solutions include PacerShare (forget what its called now - someone bought them i think), uShare, Syntax and CAP.
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Wait for Novell 6 (Score:1)
Novell's hype, which is usually more accurate than Locutus', says that 6 (which is due out shortly) will be the answer to your prayers. It is supposed to be able to talk to Apples, *nix, and Windows* all in their own native tongue. If this is even close to being true, it is the answer to your problem
Use a single platform (Score:2)
File sharing is only the beginning. Then you have to worry about font matching. And document conversion. And printing. Ad nauseum.
The problem here is not file sharing. It's OS bigotry. Supporting two disparate platforms that can both do the same thing is nothing but extra work and an aggravation. Your job is to support the mission of your company, not to molly coddle individual computer users and all of their predjudices and phobias. Solve that problem and you'll be all set.
Whatever you do, make sure you garner the support of management, though. Who, I understand, are often the ones causing problems in the first place. Sigh.
Re:Use a single platform (Score:1)
AppleshareIP? (Score:1)
Mac File Sharing, Windows File Sharing.
One box.
ExtremeZ (Score:1)
http://www.grouplogic.com/products/extreme/inde
Samba compile-time option for Netatalk? (Score:1)
NetaTalk and SAMBA (Score:1)
THE EASIEST FILE SHARING SOLUTION (Score:1)
Other Comments... (Score:1)