[Samba] Design conflict between samba and NFS

[Rowland Penny]

On 23/04/2023 15:14, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 22, 2023 at 11:09 AM Rowland Penny via samba
> <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On 22/04/2023 15:51, Sac Isilia via samba wrote:
>>> Hi Team,
>>>
>>> We have multiple cloud accounts in AWS that uses both file shares and
>>> printer shares . There are mainly either Linux(server) to Linux (client) or
>>> Linux(server) to windows(client) shares and very small fraction of shares
>>> from windows (server) to Linux(client).
>>>
>>> Can we go for samba for both Linux to Linux and Linux to windows for both
>>> file and printer shares? Or do we go for NFS in Linux to Linux for file and
>>> printer shares?
>>
>> Whilst Samba can be used for Linux clients, you can also use NFS, it is
>> basically what works for you. Having said that, if you are using Samba
>> for the Windows clients, it makes sense to use it for everything, just
>> one thing to set up and maintain.
> 
> Picking one makes sense. There are more Windows systems today that do
> NFS, even NFSv4, and many cloud storage services provide both. I'd
> done both NFS and CIFS for a shared server myself, namely a NetApp
> server, and maintaining both simultaneously.... well, it was much more
> expensive than my employer realized when they demanded we "save work
> and money" that way.

Which is really just another way of saying what I said.

> 
>>> Also we use centrify client to authenticate AD users. Can someone guide me
>>> what will be the best practice for above scenario?
>>
>> Unless there is someone who is using centrify and is willing to share
>> their knowledge, then this is doubtful, Samba has no connection with
>> centrify, so you would be better off asking them.
>>
>> Having said that, you could probably replace centrify with Samba alone.
>>
>> Rowland
> 
> Probably, but over-riding some upstream manager's corporate mandate
> can be.... difficult. And kicking free the team that's been collecting
> hourly consulting fees to maintain or tune it can be.... its own
> delightful exercise in office politics.

Personally, I never understood why anyone would pay anything to do what 
Samba would do for free, perhaps paying for Samba support yes, but 
paying for things like centrify ?????

> 
> What I noticed as critical for consistent NFS use was to use NFSv4,
> and make sure Kerberos was working well. Samba and honest-to-God
> Active Directory support Kerberos well. 

That all depends on Samba working correctly and once Samba is working 
correctly, you do not really need any other file service such as NFS, 
but you can use it with Samba.

> Centrify is now renamed
> "Delinea", and I've not dealt with them since the rename, so have no
> extra insights there.

Yes, the free centrify express seems to have disappeared, which appears, 
at least to myself, how these companies work. Create a free component, 
get people to use it, create a corporate version and then, eventually, 
remove the free version.

Rowland