Lesson 7: Server Services and Network Applications

Servers often provide shared storage and printers. On Windows, administrators share folders via SMB/CIFS: right-click a folder, choose "Share", and set permissions (Read or Read/Write for users/groups). On Linux, Samba is the equivalent for sharing files with Windows clients. You edit /etc/samba/smb.conf to define shares (e.g., [shared] pointing to a directory). For printing, Windows uses Print Management; Linux often uses CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) to share printers. In a Philippine school or office, students may connect to a shared directory or network printer managed by the sysadmin.

Two critical network services are DHCP and DNS. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) automatically gives IP addresses to clients. Admins set up a DHCP scope (range of IPs), and clients get an IP without manual config. DNS (Domain Name System) translates names to IPs (e.g. www.example.com to 93.184.216.34). On Windows Server, you can add the DHCP role or DNS role in Server Manager. On Linux, ISC DHCP server (isc-dhcp-server) and BIND are common. A practical point: make sure clients use your DNS (often via DHCP settings) so they can resolve company intranet names or internet sites.