Can PHP gain access to another file server?

shelbytll

Can one webserver access another file server using PHP?
For example 1 have one WebServer and 1 file server. I would like webserver to take a file from the file server. Maybe by doing "//fileServerName/FolderName/FileName.gif" ? Can PHP do something like that?

ednark

[man]fopen/man can grab other webpages depending on your version of php

if this file is availible on the web, thats easy...

fopen('http://php.net')

if you file is available over a virtual mapping and whoemver your webserver is running as has access to it

fopen( '/mnt/seatle_office/public_files' )

if you can ftp to the place and you don't mind storing your password in php somewhere then you can use a host of [man]ftp[/man] functions to accomplish the file grab...

read up more on the [man]ftp[/man] functions

shelbytll

Hi, you said fopen( '/mnt/seatle_office/public_files' ).
That line is accessing another file server is it? "seatle_office" is the machine name? Does this only applies to Linux? I need one that is platform independent.

ednark

i meant that maybe its already mapped to a drive on your windows machine... perhaps e:/ is really a machine in another office... or the machine on the desk right next to the server

the path i gave was linux, but you can map virtual or network drives on linux and windows and mac and im sure most other things