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This is a home network and I am the only person using it. I have two Linux boxes (Mint 16 and 17) dual boot with both MATE and Cinnamon desktop logins. I would like to set up my network to enable complete access to anything and everything on either machine from either machine (or as close to that as I can get).

I have read about NFS, as a server-client system. Can both boxes be servers and clients too?

I have not read as much about SSH. Will it do what I want?

Can I also have Samba running for when I need Windows access (both ways - between all machines)?

My user name and UID, group name and GID are all the same on both Linux boxes, any boot/desktop. (I have two sets, for testing purposes.)

LAN connection is via a Frontier (ISP) router.

What is the easiest way to set this up for my needs?

Do these (generally) prevent all access from outside?

Harvey
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  • @Sven If you are behind the suddenly so often happening migrations: I can't enough thank you! It was needed long time ago. – peterh Jan 20 '15 at 10:19
  • With NFS, can both machines be servers, and clients of each other? – Harvey Jan 24 '15 at 01:21

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If you are going to mix Windows and Linux and use it occasionally it'd probably be best to go with Samba. You don't need to install additional software on either system. Just make sure all systems have shares configured and you should be able to access them from all systems.

You could go for NFS, but on Windows it's a bit tricky to set up (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732891.aspx). If you would use the file shares frequently or need them for production, you could look into that.

SSH for file sharing is not really practical. Using SSH is more like file transfer, in that you need to transfer each individual file (like an FTP session). There are ways around that (SSHFS), but it's probably easier just to use Samba.

mtak
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  • I have a samba connection from one of my linux computers to the other, but I can only read files from the computer with the shared folder, so I can't get any files moved to that computer at all because the samba connection the other way is not working. Please see my other post at http://superuser.com/questions/867027/linux-mint-mate-caja-share-folder-menu-entry-missing – Harvey Jan 20 '15 at 10:50
  • Ok I have the Samba shares set up and working now. Drag and drop does not work from a Samba shared drive, and symlinks are overwritten when editing and saving the target files. I assume these problems are inherent with samba because the Linux directory information, like permissions, are not supported, because Windows doesn't have them. So I think I should use NFS. Does that sound right? Can I do peer to peer with NFS? i.e. both computers be servers and clients of each other with NFS? – Harvey Jan 21 '15 at 06:31
  • Can you do peer to peer with NFS? Can both machines be servers and clients of each other? – Harvey Jan 24 '15 at 01:18