APG Consultancy LTD

Networking - File Sharing

One of the most useful functions provided by a network is file sharing. This allows a computer on a network to see the files stored on any other network.

The user of a machine can allow any directory/folder/drive on their machine to be seen by other users.

Example, if a computer called "Main" has a folder called "Work", this folder can be shared on the network with a share name of "Work". If another user wants to access these files then he could use the "Network Browser" to locate the computer "Main", then find the share called "Work", then browse the files on the remote machine in the same was as a locally stored file.

Files shared on a network are accessed using UNC (Universal Naming Convention), it is defined as "\\machine name\share name\file name". For example, the filename for a file on a local machine would be something like "E:\Work\accounts.txt", on a remote machine it would be "\\Main\Work\accounts.txt".

On a simple network, everyone can see the share and read/write files. On a more controlled network different access rights can be given to each share, so that only certain people can view/read/write certain files. For example, on a server a directory called "General" could be shared so that all users can access it, whereas a directory called "accounts" could be shared so that only personel in accounts could access it.

Printer Sharing

Printer sharing allows a printer connected to a single computer to be printed to by other machines. For example, a USB printer connected to a Windows XP machine could be shared and then printed to from all other Windows machine on a network. Depending on the printer and Windows versions used the connecting machine may need the printers drivers installed. Printing from differing operating systems, such a different versions of Windows or Mac/Linux machines can prove difficult.