4. Shares, Security & Services

If you order a diskful ReadyNAS, it comes with two default shares - backup and media - set to Share level security with no passwords required for access and no quotas set. The Share mode is similar to Windows' simple file sharing and intended for home environments where most folks don't want to hassle with the more complicated options of User or Domain security.

User mode requires setup of user and group-level accounts which can be used to control access to shares you configure. You can set defaults including the group new users are assigned to, separate quotas for users and groups, and a quota warning level. You can still set a different quota level for users and groups you create and even set the UID and GID (important if you're using NFS).

If filling in forms isn't your idea of a good time, then you can use the import user list and import group list features that set things up from CSV-formatted files. Or if you've already done the form thing and want to avoid doing it again, use the export user and group list functions.

Domain mode - as you would expect - allows use of a Windows domain controller or active directory service (ADS) for login authentication.

The backup share is by default available to Windows and Mac OS X users (or any other OSes that support access via CIFS / SMB) and 'nix users via NFS. The media share is enabled for CIFS / SMB access only. But Mac-heads who still haven't moved up to OS X can just visit the Services tab in the Shares section, and enable the AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) service.

Figure 7: Default File Services
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Figure 7 shows the default file services configured and the other services available. Once you've enabled a file service, it appears as an icon next to each entry on the Shares List.

Figure 8: Default shares and services
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Figure 8 shows the Shares List default settings and Figure 9 the Mac and FTP icons added by enabling those services.

Figure 9: FTP and AFP services added
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A few words on the FTP and HTTP file access features are in order at this point. FTP access is anonymous when using the default Share level security, but switches to user-level access when you switch to User or Domain security mode. HTTPS access to both the admin features and shares can't be disabled, but you can enable HTTP access to shares as an option. Admin server access is always redirected to an HTTPS connection, but share access is not.