How Do Your Machines Talk to Each Other?

VonGuard asks: "I'd imagine this is a common scenario out there for Slashdot readers: I have multiple desktops, all sitting right next to each other and all running different OS's. Linux, Mac OS X and 9, Windows 98, and XP. The problem is, despite these machines being only inches arpart physically, in the digital world, they are miles apart. I have no single way to get them all to talk to each other. NFS is impossibly complex, Appletalk is unreliable thanks to netatalk, while PCMacLan, and Samba make me feel like I'm giving into the Empire. Isn't there a simpler way to get files from one of these machines to the other? Right now, I use webservers and write little HTML files that link to the files on each machine. Isn't there a better way to do this?" Is there really a network sharing standard that works across a number of operating systems aside from Samba? Truth be told, Samba "works-for-me", so that's what I us. However, when it comes to simple file copying, sometimes a simple scp is all I need. What protocols do you use in networks that consist of 3 or more operating systems?

Comments

rsync

[swdunlop]

In my home, there are three laptops that regularly wander in and out of the network, running FreeBSD / Windows 2000, Mac OS X and Mac OS X; I want them to have common access to my projects, and my mp3s. My central file server has an sshd, so I simply use rsync to keep them all in sync with one another. It is a bit wasteful, if all of my machines stayed on the network 24/7, but I and my wife do a lot of travelling.

You've already given in

[Jahf]

Face it, you're trying to network 2 MS OSes with 3 non-MS OSes. You want to fileshare between them without "giving in" but you're keeping the non-MS OSes.

Samba is nothing to be ashamed of. I know plenty of folks who use it with no MS OSes in the mix at all.

You seem to know it is probably going to be the simplest solution ... yet you exclude it off-hand? Sounds like an exercise in frustration to me.

Give Samba a chance

[elemental23]

I think you should reconsider using Samba. A couple years ago I started using it at home to make shares on my Debian file server available to my Windows 2000 desktop and laptops and my GF's OS X Powerbook. I've since retired the desktop, shelved the Win2k laptop (it's for sale!) and bought an iBook.

I briefly considered changing protocols to reflect the absence of Windows on the network but then thought, why bother? Samba does the job well, so why change it? OS X has Samba support built-in so it's extremely easy to mount shares on the Macs, and because we use the same account names on our laptops as we do on the file server, authentication is automatic, making the whole thing almost seamless (I say almost because OS X is still lacking good network browsing capabilities, but we should have that in 10.3).

Re:netatalk problems?

[Anonymous Coward]

True, but not everyone can hack well - I'm just learning to use Linux, and already, I've come across the same question. I'm okay with Java, but C++ is limited (damned AP course!) and my C is *really* weak.

And maybe s/he's trying to avoid reinventing the wheel - this has gotta be a pretty common situation. Although I've gotta agree with another poster, why not Samba?

FTP doesn't cut it

[lightspawn]

well, you could always use that little protocol called "file transfer protocol". Go figure. A protocol used to copy files.

But then, whenever you needed to copy a file, you'd have to make sure an FTP server is running here, an FTP client is running there, the directories are right...

I want seamless integration. I want to be able to refer to remote files or directories as easily as files or directories in a local directory. Is it too much to ask?

The Obvious(?) Answer: P2P

[Whizzmo2]

How hard would it be to install a gnutella client on your Windows, Mac, and *nix boxen?

You know, for an ostensibly geeky audience, this one should have been near the top of the list of responses.

Two problems to solve really

[smartin]

I think that this is really two separate problems. First there is the problem of sharing data and providing universal access to resources in a heterogeneous lan. This is easily solved via nfs, samba (maybe appletalk) or a combination of them all. I think the best approach is to use the right tool on the right box. If your server is Linux or OS X, then export your filesystems and printers on all protocols. On your client, access the resource using what ever works best.

The second problem is one of synchronization. This comes in to play mostly on laptops that will travel in and out of your network and may join other networks as well. The sorts of things you are likely wanting to synchronize are things like book marks, address books, some working files, etc. Synchronization has the addition complication that for some platforms some synchronized data may need to be imported/transformed to suit the local applications on that platform. The solution to this is much tougher i think. Some possible options are:

• Store your data on a globally accessible server. ie. save your addresses on directory server, put you email folders on an imap server, ...
  
• Use your favourite file syncronization tool such as rsync, unison, etc.
  
• Look for/help develop a more sophisticated data synchronization tool such as iSync, kitchensync, ...
  

Personaly i'd love to see more work being done in these later areas. It would be nice to use mozilla anywhere and always have the same set of bookmarks synchronized and managed behind the scenes. It's kind of surprising that no one has really tackled this issue.