replacing an nt 4.0 domain

[bubarooni]

I currently have the following setup:

1-WINNT 4.0 server -- PDC and file sharing
1-WINNT 4.0 server -- BDC, Exchange 5.5, TrendMicro Messaging Suite server, performs backups via nt's native backup program
1-WINNT 4.0 Terminal Services server - Terminal Services access only
1-WIN 2000 AS server -- standalone member server, provides file sharing and corporate intranet (a lot of asp content)
1-ScoUnix server -- soon to be retired, performs access to a legacy application we don't use anymore except

These sit behind a Cisco Pix and provide services for about 250 people spread out among 7 sites.

I would like to replace them with two Linux servers that would perform the same tasks as above, especially the domain authentication. I have downloaded and setup the free Zimbra Collaboration Suite on a test box running fc 4 and will probably go with the full install of that on RHEL.

I was hoping that I would be able to setup a RHEL server with the Zimbra on it, take my existing BDC down and have this new server provide email AND a bdc like function. Once that was functioning I wanted to setup another RHEL box, stick squid proxy, SugarCRM on it and have it perform a PDC like function. I would then, at my own leisurely pace, redo the corporate intranet and get it moved to this box as well.

Is this a rational plan?

The NT servers are old (slow processors and little memory) but tasks are spread out among them so I kind of wonder if I'm gonna overload the new servers (especially with squid). I do plan on buying two fairly nice boxes (I've got about $9k to spend).

My Linux skills are rudimentary, but getting sharper after the fc 4/zimbra install and the ScoUnix box maintenance. I almost remembered something from one of my linux classes way back when.

Input, insight or revisions to my plan would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks In Advance

 

[QatQat]

Well, to me the tricky part seems to setup you initial Backup domain controller.

Good news is that samba does it well.

http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/samba-bdc.html

I have never used zimbra as we use sendmail and kmail groupware functionality but I assume that you need windoz clients.

I do not foresee a lot of issues in your setup. Any problem post it here and we will give it our best shot.

QatQat

If I could have sex each time I reboot my server, I would definitely prefer Windoz over Linux!

 

[bubarooni]

Hey QatQat,

Excellent! I'm assuming it is a rational plan and will proceed with it.

2 quick questions though before I start:

1.) RHEL 4 or RHEL 5? Are they getting ready to release 5?

2.) Would I be better off replacing the PDC first? At this point it is basically just doing authentication and file storage. I could bring up a new Linux box with samba running and get it going, then once it seems to be running good, take down the NT PDC and promote the NT BDC to the PDC.

Anyway, thanks for confirming the general plan. I think there will almost certainly be many follow up posts on this thread...

 

[QatQat]

definitely I would make sure samba file server and basic authentication is up and running, even though, if you get it right the first time, (and with NT4 domains instead of ADS it is not impossible) you may replace the original setup in a way that will be transparent for the clients.

QatQat

If I could have sex each time I reboot my server, I would definitely prefer Windoz over Linux!

 

[m4ilm4n]

Your plan sounds solid to me, and I would second QatQat's comment regarding file and directory services. I'm wrestling with converting NT shares to Samba shares right now, and while it helps to use an interface like Webmin, the file & directory permissions are handled differently enough for me to rethink how I'm going to implement file services (we use a lot of nested folders with different sets of rights).

I'd recommend you promote the Windows BDC to PDC, then take the original PDC offline after everything stabilizes. That way, if anything fails during the migration you can put the original back.