what is the most efficient way to accomplish this? FTP, Samba, ???

[gohard]

I have been trying to find a method of accomplishing some specific goals, one was proftpd but that is too time consuming. I have a client for whom we are building an BSD Server to function as a Web Host, Mail, FTP and Samba.
They are architects, who are going to eventually take control of the server, and we are creating methods to make it easy to use, and function correctly. Currently webmin is setup so that they can handle the majority of issues, that they would be facing. that being, adding a user, creating a share, creating a mail user, etc.
The Final goal is the method of creating a heirarchy that would look like this

/projects/

which would contain all active projects

/0202project
/0203project so on and so forth.

within each project there would be 5 folders

/0202contract_admin - containing minutes, changes
/0202contract_drawings - issued drawings, cad files
/0202misc -presentation information
/0202presentation_material - reports, rendered images
/0202specs_addendums - specs and addendums

for each project there would be 4 types of users

0202client - access only to presentation_material & Misc folders
0202consultant - access only to Contract_Drawings & specs_addendums
0202contractor - access only to contract_admin and specs_addendums
0202guest - access only to misc folder

So when they log in via whatever method, if they are a 0202 user, they open up directly in /projects/0202project able to view all folders and only able to access the ones they are given permissions for.

What is the smartest way in your opinion to accomplish this goal?
Apache, Samba, an FTP Client, tell them to forget it
What are your thoughts on it, anybody have any luck doing anything like this before?

Thanks in Advance

Jaye

 

[xazax]

Well, I dont know if this will be really helpful but Ill give you some ideas based on what I currently operate.
I use Samba, NFS, and FTP together.
By using these three servers alone I find that all of the hard and time consuming work pays off heavily by providing a very convenient and effecient LAN operation both locally and remotely. What I mean that the files that I can access from my Windows95,98, and XP computers at home through my Samba Server I can also access just as convienitly from the comptuers at my work (Please dont tell anyone, Ill be fired) but thats no BS. Heres the setup.
I set up two servers as NFS servers including the FTP server( I just find FTP very slow compared to NFS)., I configured a third server as my Samba that holds nothing but useraccount information and home directories for those users. When a user logs in they have access to the directories that are mounted via NFS from the actual NFS servers. One server holds all of my mp3s, another movie files, another has my chick pics, and the other has nothing but small programs and utilities such as tar and zip files for whatever workstation I need them for. This way instead of having to FTP seperately from Samba I can roll them up into one large service. To the users my system seems like one large harddrive, in reality its several pcs running as one. None of my servers run faster than 266mhz with 128 mb of ram.
I am currently working with a new service using FreeBSD as a Packet Filtering Router. Im getting used to it but I would like to serve a VPN service out of that for the cable users who cannot access Samba because most cable companies filter port 139, 137, and many other good ports. Plus VPN contains encryption capabilities that Samba doesnt offer.
I did not mention a Web server because I havent covered that chapter in my research yet, but that is my next upcoming project after I get Firewall/VPN stuff down, and I intend to intergrate a mechanism to open up access to my Samba network through a simple web page. Any ways I said one to many things. I hope this feeds some food for thought.
Good lux. ...
xazax

 

[gohard]

As a followup to this question, I actually ended up going with ProFTPD, It works quite well and is capable of giving and showing only the appropriate folders for each user.
It took awhile to wrap my head around the directives, but once it worked once it was easy to replicate.
I still wonder if Samba would be as efficient. But the client is happy and that is our primary goal, and of course the client will want somthing extraordinary soon, and we will have to revamp this solution

I like your ideas regarding the one drive illusion, and the effectiveness of all those computers working together.

Thanks.

Jaye

 

[xazax]

I apologize for not responding immediately.

I have not visited this site for a while but I reread the whole thread. My answer remains the same.

I do value, however being able to find the balance where the customer is satisfied while you being able to provide the the support they need based on your knowledge, confort, and experience.

Just because Samba/NFS combo works for me, it does not mean that other people would find it feasible. Many people dont even grasp the simplest of the concept unlike yourself.

I am trying very hard to show and employ Samba/NFS combined by trying to get people to understand how cost effective, efficient, secure, and easy to use it would be.

People generally are accustomed to HTTP, FTP, MAIL, and NetWork Neigborhood.

For that reason, I am learning HTML, PHP, MySQL, and Apache in that order, to find a way to route people across a NetBIOS lan via an Intranet.

This may sound dumb, but I like that idea because FTP, NFS, and Samba can be used in any combination starting with Samba itself.

FTP is very popular, but even on a local area network it is very slow as opposed to NFS, or Samba, or both combined.

There are too many things based on the IP protocol stack what must occur when negotiating file transfers over a local area network.

Dont Get me wrong, FTP has many valuable uses. I havent really pursued the intracacies of any FTP server to fully judge against it. My next move to to get ProFTP working after my Four Subject Project.

For us, even if we dont know it all, we understand the basic concepts of networking more than many clients and customers who just have a general idea. There are more ways to do one thing, its just a matter of finding a selling point of each, and that highly depends on what the customer understands, or think they understand.

Good luck and good work, at least you reached the bottom line $$$$..

Laterz...