SMB/CIFS Questions

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a Win2K file server running Microsoft's OUTDATED "Services for Macintosh" (No 3rd party tools like EZ-IP, etc). I have major limitations and issues when OS X users connect and mount via AppleTalk. Examples:



passwords restricted to 8 characters, etc

filenames truncated to 32 characters, etc.



My quickest solution is perhaps making the OS X clients connect to the Win2k server via SMB and not AT. I did a test connecting via SMB, and my password and filename length problems were solved. But can I trust SMB for OS X in a production environment?



Questions:



1) What "gotcha's" exist with OSX or Win2K when using SMB for a Mac file sharing protocol? Are there resource fork issues, etc? File size limits? Wacky meta data info?



2) If SMB wont work, can I connect to the Win2k server via AFP over IP with success? Or will MS's "Services for Macintosh" treat the Macs any different with AFP/IP than connecting over AppleTalk? My guess is no. Just a hunch...



3) Do you guys have opinions of Group Logic's ExtremeZ-IP (EZ-IP) for Windows? I know it fixes these problems mentioned above, but is it easy to deploy, manage, etc? Any hidden costs, etc?



I have aprox150 Mac clients on my LAN. They are running OS X 10.2 and 10.3, as well as a few OS 9 users (moving to X slowly but surely). The LAN is 10/100 switched cat5.



Don't ask why we use AppleTalk. It's a long story. Same for the OS 9 Macs.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    jccbinjccbin Posts: 476member
    Ohhh, boy. I'd just stick with AppleTalk if I could. The 8-letter pws are not really a problem, and the 32-length filenames are a convenience issue (who the heck names a file "This picture is for George Williams, of his daughter Jeannie and son-in-law Mr. Mxlpplcktsx?" Seriously, though, I've a couple of clients in much the same predicament, so here's my answers to your Qs:



    Quote:

    1) What "gotcha's" exist with OSX or Win2K when using SMB for a Mac file sharing protocol? Are there resource fork issues, etc? File size limits? Wacky meta data info?



    ANS: If you are running OS X 10.3 on anything, resource forks will not work over the SMB. File previews may be lost. Force OS X to use afp by connecting to the network using: afp://address. You may see very slow network response times due to some kind of bug in 10.3.x that slows the Mac Services list/re-list significantly. But it does work. Hopefully 10.3.3 will fix this.

    Seems OK in OS 9.



    Quote:

    2) If SMB wont work, can I connect to the Win2k server via AFP over IP with success? Or will MS's "Services for Macintosh" treat the Macs any different with AFP/IP than connecting over AppleTalk? My guess is no. Just a hunch...



    ANS: Have you tried connecting using afp://ip -- even if AppleTalk is off it will often see resource forks, etc because choosing that protocol tells the Mac to look for that info. Works fine with win2k and SvcsFMac with NO AppleTalk on the WIndows side.



    As for the thrid party products, I've not had to use them yet, so no idea on their reliability/durability.



    Hope this helps.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    I have a question concerning SMB. I found a tip on the Apple support site (http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]/7) that speeds up transfers between a Mac and Windows machine dramatically by changing some kernel settings. These are the settings you change:



    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.tcp.delayed_ack=0

    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.tcp.mssdflt=1460

    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.tcp.sendspace=65535

    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.tcp.recvspace=65535

    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.tcp.newreno=1



    However, when you restart the machine the values return to their default values. How do I get the 5 lines above to execute everytime I restart the machine so I don't have to do this manually?



    Any. help. is. appreciated.
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