Introduction
Project Name: Sia SMB Mounts
Name of the organization or individual submitting the proposal: Michael Bulanov
Project Description
SMB (Server Message Block) is a communication protocol used to share files, printers, etc. between the network nodes (Server Message Block - Wikipedia). Even though other file sharing protocols exist (NFS, AFP, etc.), SMB is one of the few protocols natively supported by Windows.
This project includes developing a standalone service compatible with all popular platforms (Windows, Linux, and MacOS), which uses renterd
as the storage backend to mount network shares and then access them as the user would normally do with conventional network shares.
How does the projected outcome serve the Foundation’s mission of user-owned data?
The project aims at expanding the user base, especially to those who have to stick to Windows, either due to personal preferences, or because their employer uses Windows as the corporate OS.
Grant Specifics
Budget and Its Justification
The project owner requests an amount of 9.000 USD, which shall constitute the part-time salary of the project developer (who is the same person as the project owner). This amount shall be spread evenly across the project timeline, which is 3 months.
Project Goals
The outcome of the project shall be a fully-functional standalone service (siasmb
), which uses renterd
as the storage backend to mount network shares. Although the main focus shall be on Windows, other popular platforms (Linux and MacOS) shall be supported, too.
Potential Risks
The only risk that the project owner could identify involves any yet undiscovered technical roadblocks that could prevent or significantly delay the implementation of the SMB protocol on one or more platforms. However, based on the preliminary research, this risk appears to be rather small.
Development Information
Will all of your project’s code be open-source? Yes
Leave a link where code will be accessible for review.
Do you agree to submit monthly progress reports? Yes
Contact Info
The contact info of the project owner is already known to the Grants Committee and the Sia team.