Server Message Block

Compute Control infinite disk
1

Introduction

Server Message Block (SMB) is the primary file sharing protocol supported by Infinite Disk, enabling file access from a range of devices including:

  1. Apple iOS
  2. Apple macOS
  3. Microsoft Windows
  4. Google Android
  5. Linux
  6. Others

Unless there are special restrictions, by default SMB should be make available as a way of access Infinite Disk.

Samba

Samba is the default SMB server. Currently supported versions are:

  • 4.20 (recommended)
  • 4.18
  • 4.15

Demonstration

All Personal Alias will have have access to demonstration SMB storage under Infinite Disk entity.

2

Apple iOS

Infinite Disk SMB can be accessed directly by Apple iOS with its official built-in Files app:

1. Installation

  1. Open the Files app files_app and tap 3-dot at the top of the Browse screen. If 3-dot is not shown, tap Browse again.

  2. Tap Connect to Server.
    connect_to_server

  3. Enter smb.vahfoom3iquahfah.infinitedisk.com in the Server field.
    server

  4. Enter the username and password.
    username

  5. If connected successfully, the remote folder will be displayed. The username used in this user guide is sambatest.
    remote_shared_folder

2. Reference

3

Apple macOS

Infinite Disk SMB can be accessed directly by Apple macOS:

1. Browse

2. Share

3. Time Machine

4. Remote SMB

5. Tech Notes

Infinite Disk has ALREADY been set up as a SMB server to support file access from Apple macOS, there is NOTHING to do, below are just some background information for the techs on the server side.

  1. Time Machine
    Configure Samba to Work Better with Mac OS X - SambaWiki

  2. Spotlight
    Spotlight with Elasticsearch Backend - SambaWiki

4

Microsoft Windows

Infinite Disk SMB can be accessed directly by Microsoft Windows:

1. Windows Explorer

Installation

  1. Open File Explorer from the taskbar or the Start win_logo menu, or press the Windows logo key
    win_logo + E.

  2. Select This PC from the left pane. Then, on the File Explorer ribbon, select More
    win_3-dot and Map network drive.
    win_map

  3. Enter \\smb.vahfoom3iquahfah.infinitedisk.com\sambatest in the Folder field and click on the Finish button.
    win_network_drive

  4. Enter the username and password and click on the OK button.
    win_username

  5. If the connection is successful, the remote shared folder will be displayed. The username used in this user guide is sambatest.
    win_samba_drive

2. Remote SMB

3. Legacy SMB 1.0

With our support for Web Services for Devices, SMB 1.0 support is not normally required anymore, but just in case:
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1037477/

4. Tech Notes

Infinite Disk has ALREADY been set up as a SMB server to support file access from Microsoft Windows, there is NOTHING to do, below are just some background information for the techs on the server side.

  1. Newer Windows 10 and 11 use Web Services for Devices (WSD), so wsdd22 daemon is needed.
    GitHub - Netgear/wsdd2: WSD/LLMNR Discovery/Name Service Daemon

  2. Shadow Copy
    vfs_shadow_copy2

  3. Samba Standalone Server
    Setting up Samba as a Standalone Server - SambaWiki

5

Google Android

The standard Google Android Files App has NO native support for SMB and its own SMB app has been abandoned. The Samsung My Files app DOES have support for SMB.

Infinite Disk SMB can be accessed by most third-party Android Apps with SMB support. However most of them are closed sourced, so should not be used.

The recommended Open Sourced SMB app is Material Files:

  1. Download from F-Droid:
    Material Files | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

  2. Download from Google Play:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.zhanghai.android.files

Installation

  1. Open the Material Files app menu android_3-dot at the top of the screen and select Add Storage.
    android_add_storage

  2. Tap SMB Server.
    android_smb_server

  3. Tap Add Manually.
    android_add_manually

  4. Enter smb.vahfoom3iquahfah.infinitedisk.com as the hostname and other details as below and tap Connect and add.
    android_username

  5. If the connection is successful, the remote server will be displayed.
    android_remote_shared_folder

  6. To access the remote shared folder, tap the remote server above. The username used in this user guide is sambatest.
    android_remote_shared_folder

6

Linux

1. SMB Client

The Samba package comes with client software (smbclient) which can be used on all Linux Distributions.

smbclient is also available through different libraries e.g. javascript samba client.

2. SMB Protocol

To see which SMB protocol are supported on SMB server:

nmap -p139 --script smb-protocols <server-address>

Reference:
https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-protocols.html

3. Tech Notes

Infinite Disk has ALREADY been set up as a SMB server to support file access from Linux, there is NOTHING to do, below are just some background information on the server side for the techs.

Linux has 2 good SMB servers both support improved security in SMB 3.1.1.

  1. ksmbd
    KSMBD - SMB3 Kernel Server — The Linux Kernel documentation
    GitHub - cifsd-team/ksmbd: ksmbd kernel server(SMB/CIFS server)
    Linux Kernel Server - SambaWiki
    CIFSD - Wikipedia

  2. samba
    https://www.samba.org
    https://wiki.samba.org
    Samba (software) - Wikipedia

Infinite Disk defaults to Samba due to extra features (e.g. shadowcopy, macOS Timemachine etc.) but ksmbd is leaner and is also supported.

By default samba should have these VFS Modules as a minimum :

  • vfs_catia
  • vfs_fruit
  • vfs_shadow_copy2

Apple Time Machine reference:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61070777/issue-using-samba-4-9-with-time-machine

7

Others

Infinite Disk SMB can be accessed using SMB client software on most operating systems.

1. Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)

Most popular BSDs have SMB client support e.g. FreeBSD

2. Oracle Solaris

Oracle Solaris has its own SMB Client.

3. IBM z/OS

IBM z/OS does not have SMB client and its SMB server is not going to last for long, so you should access Infinite Disk using NFS instead of SMB.

4. Game Consoles, Smart TVs etc.

There are numerous hacks and programs to get SMB clients into Playstations, Nintendo, Xboxes etc. We are not supporting them ourselves, but it should be a lot of fun, Good Luck!