Linux instead of Windows 2003

[TigerDivision]

Hi All!

Our current domain controller is running Windows NT Server 4.0 and will be retired in the coming months. Till now we've been looking at replacing NT with W2K03. The server would also be replaced with a new one. Basically this new server would be acting as a W2K03 Domain controller hosting user accounts and home folders perhaps. All our member servers are running W2K and W2K03. I was wondering whether it would be worth migrating to W2K03 and Active Directory. Would migrating to Linux and Samba be a better solution? How about our member servers? They are part of our current NT4 domain. How would they fit in? Has anyone run Linux as a Domain controller before?
Would appreciate your comments on this.
Many thanks
Pierre

 

[philote]

Why is it the DC is NT? Why not promote a few of your Win2k/2k3 servers to DC's? This would not only allow you to benefit by using Active Directory but would also provide redundancy with accounts and policies. Then you could set up Linux/Samba on file servers if needed.
I'd personally not recommend a Linux machine as your DC in your particular network.

 

[TigerDivision]

Thanks for your post. I cannot promote my W2K/W2k03 servers to domain controllers since they are hosting databases, etc. They have to remain as member servers.
So you do not recommend that I set up my future new server as a Linux Samba DC. Have you had any bad experiences with such a scenario? Would be interested to know. If I were to set up Linux Samba DC the cost would be much much cheaper which makes it very attractive but if it is problematic then I agree with you.

Thanks

 

[thedaver]

Samba is not a drop-in functional peer as a DC in the truest sense of how Microsoft expects domain controlers to work. I believe that Samba can work as a BDC effectively, but I'm not sure if it is able to participate in a Win2K3 network at that role.

You CAN use linux for file, print, and some other services in the domain.

http://www.surfinbox.com/dir.php

 

[philote]

From what I know it's definitely possible to samba as a pdc. And since you think you shouldn't promote any of your member servers, it may not be as bad an option as I thought. I've never used samba in this capacity but after googling for 'samba pdc' I see many others have been successful at this.

But you may want to weigh the costs of going the samba route. Remember that time is money and the cost of learning and setting up a samba server may end up being more than using windows. Along the same lines, Windows server will save you time with administrative tasks and you may run into problems with samba that may take time to research and resolve.

Check out

http://us1.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/samba-pdc.html#id2516697

for more information, specifically the section on the functionalities Samba 3.0 does NOT provide.

 

[LawnBoy]

philote: "...benefits of using Active Directory"? You're kidding, right? It's naught but a cheap (and poorly implemented) imitation of Novell's eDirectory, which will run on all platforms mentioned in this thread.

 

[philote]

I don't disagree, LawnBoy, but I think you missed the point. TigerDivision wants a cheap alternative to buying a new Windows server. Installing Linux with Samba or using an existing server would be much cheaper than eDirectory. And an Active Directory domain gives much greater administrative benefit than Samba or NT domains.

 

[LawnBoy]

Fair enough, but I was under the impression he was looking for a "better solution" not a "cheaper solution".

I'm not sure what eDir costs per server seat (we've the equivalent of a site licence) but Linux on the new server box and eDir on it and all member servers would IMHO be a high quality solution. And much easier to manage than AD.

I'm not trying to start yet another flame war, I just want to point out that there are alternatives to the MS methodology (of which samba is a part of).

By the way, an eDir tree can encompass an AD forest, but an AD forest can't encompass an eDir tree. Can ya tell I'm a Novell fan?

 

[wickedImp]

Have you tried - Mitel's 4000 - based on the e-smith distro of Redhat 7.0 - heard some good things about it, may well worth looking into.

 

[TigerDivision]

Thanks to all for you helpful comments.

Cheers
Pierre