[Samba] Samba Domain Controller + Router

[John H Terpstra]

On Sun, 3 Aug 2003, David Donahue wrote:

> I have a Samba Domain Controller running on a Windows/Linux hybrid
> network.  Actually, the network is in a state of transition right now and
> I'm occupying my time by planning its re-design.  So, assume that when I
> set it up again, I'll be using the latest release of Samba (or any
> previous release you may recommend).
>
> Now, to the point... A couple of the Windows clients on this domain will,
> without going into much explanation of why, be behind a simple Linksys
> router.  This means that the only way they can connect to the Samba domain
> is via TCP port forwarding through the router.  My knowledge of the
> protocols of a Windows domain being somewhat limited, I question if this
> is possible.  Through no other means than forwarding TCP ports through the
> router, (and through which ports in which direction?) is it possible for
> multiple (read as 2 or 3) computers on the other side of that router to be
> members of the Windows domain?
>
> The computers on the other side of the router are, at the moment, running
> Win2000.  But, over time, replacements will have later versions of
> Windows.  Now, I would imagine that, if TCP port forwarding is enough,
> then the clients won't have a problem.  They'd simply see the router as
> the Domain Controller, right?  But then, through that controller (Samba),
> can they browse the rest of the machines on the domain?  Note that such
> browsing wouldn't be entirely necessary, but if it's possible it would at
> least make the network setup somewhat more transparent to the users.
>
> Where I become most unclear, however, is the fact that, from the Domain
> Controller's perspective, the router would be a single source (IP
> address) for multiple machines.  Can it distinguish between those machines
> on the other side of the router?  Can they, too, be browsed on the domain
> by the rest?  Note also that the router exibits different behavior in
> different directions, and I can "invert" the direction if need be.
> Connections coming in on the WAN port must be forwarded by port number as
> specified ahead of time.  Connections coming in on the LAN port, however,
> pretty much have free reign to go as they please and expect a response.
> It matters little to me which side of the network is WAN and which is LAN
> from the router's perspective.
>
> Any help you can give me in this would be very much appreciated.  Thank
> you for your time.

Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf, Chapter 10 available from the folowing URL:

	http://us4.samba.org/samba/devel/docs/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf

Chapter 10, "Samba / MS Network Browsing Guide", Should answer your
questions. If you have more, after having read this, please let's have
them.

THe SMB/CIFS protocol uses TCP ports 139 and 445, and UDP port 137.

- John T.
-- 
John H Terpstra
Email: jht at samba.org