Book Reviews |
Samba is the single most powerful tool for integrating Linux with your Windows clients and servers. Samba.org's main page states, "Samba is an Open Source/Free Software suite that provides seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients."
If you use Linux along with Windows in a heterogeneous environment, it makes sense to keep some good Samba references on hand. This month, I'll review two Samba books from John H. Terpstra. John Terpstra is a co-founder of the Samba Team, which he calls "a loose-knit group of about 30 people who contribute regularly to Samba."
The first of these books is The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide, which is edited by John Terpstra and Jelmer R. Vernooij. Notice that Terpstra and Vernnooij are the editors, not the authors. The Official Samba-3 HOWTO is actually a printed version of a documentation file distributed with Samba and also available from the Samba website http://www.samba.org. Prentice Hall provides this printed version of the Samba documentation as part of the Bruce Perens Open Source Series.
The book is divided into five main parts (six if you count the Appendix section) that discuss installation, basic and advanced configuration, migration, and troubleshooting. A reader can expect to find logical information, technical references, and numerous configurations in this book.
I've heard only two real criticisms for this book. First, people expecting to find good Samba information to work with LDAP won't be satisfied. This is no reason to fret, though, because John is working on another book called OpenLDAP By Example, which is expected to publish later this year. Second, readers expecting to find real world application examples and configuration setups for Samba may get a little lost in this book. Again, John has come to the rescue with his Samba-3 By Example which I will review next.
John H. Terpstra and Jelmer R. Vernooij (Editors)
736 pages
Prentice Hall, 0-13-145355-6
£ 39.99, US$ 49.99, EUR 41.50
John Terpstra is the real author (not just the editor) of another book called Samba-3 By Example: Practical Exercises to Successful Deployment, which is also published by Prentice Hall. Like The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide, Samba-3 By Example is also part of the Bruce Perens Open Source Series.
This book consists of twelve Samba implementation scenarios, each with its own dedicated chapter. The author begins with scenarios such as "No Frills Samba Servers" and "Small Office Networking," and the situations become progressively more complex in the later chapters. Other topics include "Migrating an NT 4 Domain to Samba-3," "Active Directory, Kerberos, and Security," and "Integrating Additional Services."
The chapters come with configuration files and step-by-step instructions. This book also includes some automation scripts for various deployment scenarios. You'll find separate discussions on dealing with all of the common Microsoft network security architectures (for example, peer-to-peer networks, NT 4 domains, Windows 2000 non-AD networks, and Active Directory domains). This book also covers the whole range of possible clients.
Someone with years of Samba experience won't find a lot of use for Samba-3 By Example, but if you're looking for a place to start with Samba and you want a book that will help you understand how to use Samba in the workplace, this book is the perfect candidate. You can think of Samba-3 By Example as a kind of value-added commentary that can be paired with the The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide (or its online HOWTO equivalent) to fully address the technical needs of the Samba user. You'll find that these two books together easily document over 90% of the tasks Samba is used for today.
John H. Terpstra
384 pages
Prentice Hall, 0-13-147221-6
£ 35.99, US$ 44.99, EUR 37.50