Sharing Folders on Local and Remote Computers
The shared resources of Windows Server 2003 are stored in a folder on local or remote computer, which is known as shared folder. Shared folders help you to access the shared resources of remote computers. You need to specify different share permissions to a set of users to access the shared resources. By default, all user accounts of a network have read access permission to access the shared folder in the network. Note: Only computers with hard drive partitions formatted in New Technology File System (NTFS) support data sharing.
Specifying Share Permissions
Share permissions allow user in a network to access the shared resources, such as files and folders. You can also specify different permissions for different sets of computers in the network. By default, the read permission is set for a shared file or folder. Various share permissions in Windows Server 2003 are:
No Access: Prevents access to the shared resources. It is the most restrictive share permission, which does not allow you to perform the read and write operations.
Read: Allows read access to the shared resources. Using this share permission, you can view the list of files and subfolders within the shared folder. You can also read the contents of the files and run the program files stored in the shared folder.
Change: Allows the creation and deletion of files and subfolders in the shared folder that has read permission. This permission also allows you to modify the contents of the shared resources.
Full Control: Allows you to read, write, delete and change the shared resources stored in the shared folder. The full control permission automatically inherits the read and change permissions. In addition, it allows you to take the ownership of shared resources. It is the least restrictive share permission.
Creating Shared Folders
To access the shared resources on the network, you need to share an existing folder or create a new shared folder. Windows Server 2003 provides two methods to create shared folders on local and remote computers, Windows Explorer and Computer Management. The Windows Explorer method creates the shared folder on local computers, and the Computer Management method creates the shared folder on both the local and remote computers. An administrator or a member of the Server Operators group can create shared folders on a server running on Windows Server 2003.