Samba Server and Client FAQ

This page should become a collection of tips and tricks around the setup and operation of the Samba Server and Client for eComStation and OS/2.

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Q: What is faster, Samba Server for eCS (OS/2), IBM Peer, LAN Server or WarpServer for eBusiness?
A:The Samba Server provides a much better performance than all the older IBM products on a given hardware. The Samba Client is slower than the IBM LAN Requester. Resumee: Samba Server plus Samba client outperform any combination of IBM LAN Requester and IBM Peer/LAN Server/WSeB.

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Q: What about stability? Is Samba for eCS (OS/2) stable enough to run my company's network?
A: There are several case studies where Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) is already used in a real life office environment successfully for approximately a year, without real problems. Nevertheless Samba still has quirks and in its current status is more difficult to handle than the older IBM products (which definitely also have quirks and limitations, especially when it comes to newer Windows clients).

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Q: Which OS/2 components are replaced by Samba?
A: The following table provides an overview:

Samba component	Original eCS (OS/2) component	Remarks
Samba Server	IBM Peer/LAN Server/WSeB	Samba cannot share serial devices, but is much faster on the same hardware
Netdrive + Samba client plugin	IBM LAN Requester	Used to access files/directories on a Samba server from an eCS (OS/2) client
eVFS + Samba client plugin	IBM LAN Requester	Used to access files/directories on a Samba server from an (OS/2) client
Samba smbspool + eRedMan	IBM LAN Requester	Used to print from OS/2 on a printer shared by a Samba server

Note: eVFS comes with eComStation 2.x
Note: eRedMan can be found ​here.

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Q: Is the Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) able to store OS/2 extended attributes properly?
A: Yes. Recent Samba builds can do that nicely. You have to add the following statement to your smb.conf in order to enable extended attributes:

[global]
   ...
   ea support = Yes
   ...

Note: Samba Server builds older than 2007-02-26 had problems with Extended Attributes (EAs), both with clients connected with IBM LAN Requester and with clients connected with the older Samba 3.0.9 plugins for Netdrive.

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