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Share Files

Why Share Files?

If you are sharing a database or collaborating on a project then it makes sense to work on the same files. This ensures you all work on the same copy of the file rather than passing it back and forth via email which can get confusing.

You can use the K: drive or a Public Folder in Outlook, but these will be open to everyone and your files could be read, modified or deleted without warning. A better way is to keep shared files in a folder and control access to the contents.

Sharing on Windows Servers

There are several shared folders on the central home servers which are available by default to all users of that server. These are:

  • The Common share, which is usually mapped as your K: (it is worth noting that all staff have access to the Common share on all the home servers, but students can only access those on the student servers)
  • The Departments share, which is usually mapped as your I:
  • The Users share, which provides an initial connection point for home areas but is not usually mapped directly to a drive letter

You don’t have to make a folder 'shared' for other people to be able to access it. Although your H: drive derives from the Users share of your home server, it is not itself ‘shared’. All that is necessary for people to access files in a folder, is to set the appropriate security permissions on that folder.

Granting Security Permissions - Example

I have created a folder on my H: drive called SharingDemo. If I right-click on that folder and select ‘properties’ and then ‘security’ I can see the following permissions:

  • Administrators is there by default and is essential for system administration so please do not remove this
  • D70_STAFF is a group of users that I have added so that my colleagues in IT can access this folder
  • Exchange Super User is not necessary but is there by default as an Administrator equivalent
  • Mark Dewell and Anne Serf are individual users and should not be deleted unless you want to block their access to this folder.

The bottom half of the window shows the permissions for the group or user highlighted in the top half.

The 'Allow' boxes are greyed out and cannot be changed for some users and groups. This is because these access rights are being inherited from folders above this one. If necessary you could block some of these by ticking boxes in the 'Deny' column, but this can become confusing and it is better to remove the inheritance and set all permission directly on the folder.

Setting Permissions on an Individual Shared Folder

The ‘inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects’ box is checked by default. Un-check it to prevent permissions from folders above this one being inherited. If you do un-check it, you will see a security warning prompting you to 'copy' or 'remove' permission entries. We recommend you ‘copy’ as these can always be amended afterwards, whereas if you ‘remove’ you could accidentally remove your own permissions.

Advanced settings will also show permissions in written form rather than a series of tick boxes, indicating where those permission originate.

Adding Users

To add users press the 'add' button and type the account name of the user into the box (eg, mark4). If there is more than one possible matching name, you will be offered a list to select from. Once an account name has been added, you should see it change to show the full name after a couple of minutes. We recomend that you are very careful when granting permissions to your data to your class mates and co-workers and recommendthat you keep a careful record of anyone you have given access to you information so that you can remove it once they no longer need it e.g. if you are working as a group on a project it would be reasonable to share your files, however once that project is finished file sharing is no longer required.

Ensuring People Find Shared Folders

You will want to let people know about your shared folder and it is important to ensure that the path you give them is accurate. For example:

  • I:\d70\data\mysharedfolder would only be of use to people who had an I: drive on the same server as your own I: drive
  • \dl-stud1\\departments\d90\data\mysharedfolder would work for anyone granted appropriate permissions.

Local Shares

Any PCs running the UEL desktop can be configured to share file and /folders on disk drives local to the PC. Users wishing to access such shared resources need to use Windows Explorer and connect as follows: \\hostname\sharename.

Disadvantages of Local Shares

  • Users have to know the name of the host and this may change if the machine is relocated (and hence renamed).
  • Local shares are often targeted by viruses and service denial attacks
  • Files on local disks are not backed up by IT

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