Before we get started with the installation, let’s find out what Samba is and how we can utilize it. Samba is a free and open-source software that allows files to be shared across Windows and Linux systems simply and easily. To be exact, it is an open-source implementation of the SMB/CIFS protocol.

The (SMB) Server Message Block Protocol is a client-server communication protocol that is used for sharing access to files, printers, serial ports, and other resources on a network. The (CIFS) Common Internet File System Protocol is a dialect of the SMB protocol. A collection of message bundles that describes a distinct variant of a protocol is called a dialect.

Briefly, when using Samba, we can share files and printing services, use authentication and authorization, name resolution, and service announcements between Linux/Unix servers and Windows clients.

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