Transfer of directory structure over network

Question

I am designing a remote CD/DVD burner to address hardware constraints on my machine.

My design works like this: (analogous to a network printer)

1. Unix-based machine (acts as server) hosts a burner.
2. Windows-based machine acts as client.
3. Client prepares data to burn and transfers it to the server.
4. Server burns the data on CD/DVD.

My question is: what is the best protocol to transfer data over the network (Keeping the same directory hierarchy) between different operating systems?

Answer 1

I would think some kind of archive format would be best. The *nix .tar archive format works well for most things. However, since you are burning CD/DVD disks the native .iso format of the disk may be a good choice.

You'll likely need to transfer the entire archive prior to burning to prevent buffer under-run issues.

Edit: You can use mkisofs to create the .iso file from a folder or your CD burner software may be able to output an .iso file.