file shareing across lan

hello im looking for the best method to share files across my home network the machine i want to use for the server is a headless openSUSE 11.1 machine that i access through ssh.

so what i want to know is what is the best system to using for sharing files on this server considering i want to be connecting to it with a mix of other openSUSE / Linux machines and some Windows XP machines. it would be nice if i can be directed to some good tutorials on this because i kinda lack on networking knowledge when it comes to Linux.

You want Samba.

+1

And if the machine is not going to be doing anything except file serving, you might want to consider instead of using a GP distro like SUSE, using a dedicated distro like FreeNAS or Openfiler which are quick to setup and have nice web control panels.

Here is the tutorial I was using to share my files:
Samba Server and Suse / openSUSE: HowTo Configure a Professional File Server on a SOHO LAN
There are other good usefull stuff there.
enjoy

all right thanks for the info i think i will got the direction of freenas or something of that type cause the only thing this box is doing is sharing local files and acting as a http server