read smb drive

Hey guys (and gals) I am writing something that needs to connect to a SMB server... can this be done easliy? I copied a sample code from php.net that used the system() command and mounted the SMB to a /mnt/tmp partion, and technically, it works.... the problem is, is that mount has to be run as root... is there a way to put the "mount/unmount" commands into an allowed command? i supposed, the other problem is, is waht if this is on a windows machine? i dont really want to mess with permissions too much, since this will have to be portable from linux to windows... any help would be appreciated... Steve