[pptp-server] Linux and Win9x (and: Non-TCP protocol sharing?)

[Derek Simkowiak]

     Hello,
	I'm building a network.  Woohoo!

	I'm setting up VPN services where there will be a Linux VPN server
(also doing firewall/masquerading with ipchains) and MS-Windows9x VPN
clients (laptops connecting from the outside world through various ISPs).

	The only free solution I have found is the Linux PPTP server, as
all the other free Linux VPN solutions I've found are OpenSSH-based, and
(as far as I can tell) the MS-Windows SSH client cannot be configured for
VPN.  Besides that, OpenSSH doesn't run on Windows.  (There are some
non-SSH solutions for Linux, but they don't have MS-Windows clients)

	Is there anything else besides PPTP that I should look into?

	Anyhow, it looks like PopTop will work fine.  However, I did have
a question.

	The file "win98.doc.gz" (titled, "Setting up VPN Access") and the
PopTop-RedHat-HOWTO both say that the Win9x clients must be configured to
turn *off* (that is, uncheck) the NetBEUI and IPX/SPX Compatible
protocols.

	One thing the Win9x laptops need to do is get access to "Shares",
that is, filesystems shared with the SMB "Network Neighborhood" protocol.
Those shares will reside on other Win9x boxes as well as Linux using
Samba.

	It is my understanding that SMB and NetBEUI are the same thing,
and that if I want the remote laptops to be able to see those shares, I
need to have NetBUIE turned on.  Is that true?  Are NetBEUI and SMB
different?  (I was under the impression that SMB, NetBEUI, and NetBIOS
were all synonomous.  If somebody could clear that up for me, I would be
very grateful...)

	In short, will the remote Win9x laptops be able to see the Shares
if NetBEUI and IPX are turned off?  And why do those protocols need to be
turned off, anyhow?

	(Not relevant but for the curious: There will also be remote Linux
servers --colocated somewhere else-- connecting to the PopTop server so
that the dolts running the website can drag'n'drop their FrontPage .HTM
files into the proper directories via Samba.  Also, there could be some
remote Macintosh clients using TunnelBuilder and/or IPNetRouter to connect
to the PopTop server.  Fun!)

	Any help is greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Derek Simkowiak
dereks at kd-dev.com