Samba uses the SMB protocol to share files and printers across a network connection. Operating systems that support this protocol include Microsoft Windows (through its Network Neighborhood), OS/2, and Linux.
Samba is useful if you have a network of both Windows and Linux machines. Samba allows files and printers to be shared by all the systems in your network. If you want to share files between Red Hat Linux machines only, use NFS as discussed in Chapter 16 Network File System (NFS). If you want to share printers between Red Hat Linux machines only, you do not need to use Samba; refer to Chapter 27 Printer Configuration.