Tom, Great information to have. Where do set the 'OS level' in samba. I don't have my Samba book on hand. Do I just put it in the global settings in the smb.conf? I want the Samba server to be my master browser. One of my next todo's is having the Samba server emulate a domain controller. I'm going to have to get the new Samba 3.0 material too! Thanks, James > Okay, please don't rip my head off here for asking a MS question, but I > figured I would get a slightly less biased answer here. That being > said.... > We are upgrading our Exchange 5.5 server to Exchange 2003. We are a > mixed shop with Linux and Windows. (There are numerous other systems, > mostly of the *nix variety) While I tried to edge them to use > Communitgate Pro, Contact, or OpenExchange, they decided there would be > less impact on users if we stayed with Exchange. > Now comes my issues, I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole > here. In reading the docs for Exchange 2003, it says it needs Active > Directory. Great, so now I have to learn Active Directory and futz with > that. Now I am setting up Active Directory, flying by the seat of my > pants, and it says that it wants its own DNS server in order to work > properly. All my DNS servers are Linux based. > Can Active Directory work with Linux based DNS? I thought I recalled a > few of you saying you had Exchange 2000/2003 running, just wanted to > know how you did it. > Any help would be appreciated. > > -- > Edward M. Croft > Sr. Systems Engineer > Open Ratings, Inc. > 200 West Street > Waltham, MA 02451-1121 > > Hi Edward, > > Actually the answer is both yes and no. Yes, you can make Bind 9 work > with Active Directory, but it will not resolve NetBIOS names, which > Active Directory requires for file/print sharing. When you set up an > Active Directory domain controller, it requires an Active Directory > enabled DNS server, something Bind cannot do. Active Directory has > hidden objects in the DNS records that don't appear in the zone files > because they are embedded in the registry. Also, to find a domain > controller to authenticate Windows clients, you must have SRV resource > records in the zone, something Bind 9 supports but I've never tried it > so I can't say how well it works. > > Another issue you will face is the matter of broadcast storms from > browse master elections. Domain controllers win those elections when > they exist, but every new client starting up forces a new browse master > election. You can limit this by using Samba and set the "OS level" value > to 65 or greater and the Samba server will win all the elections, and > then you can use Samba's WINS server to handle your workstation browse > requests. > > I would try to make the Exchange Server a domain controller and a DNS > server. This would reduce the amount of traffic created by the Exchange > server and its clients since they use DNS and not WINS. For file and > Print sharing I would use Samba, and make the Samba server use the > Active Directory server to authenticate the Windows clients. You didn't > say whether you have Win9x or NT4 or < clients, but these require mixed > mode for Active Directory to work with them as they don't support Active > Directory in native mode. > > Microsoft's approach to open standards is called "embrace and extend," > which is another way to make an open standard a Microsoft proprietary > architecture. This makes cross platform networking a series of stubborn > obstacles and causes network engineers to loose their hair. I've been > doing this stuff for 13 years, so if you have any other questions, > please feel free to email me directly and we can continue this without > filling the group with Microsoft protocol issues. > > Tom > > Thomas S. Fortner > Burleson, Texas > thomas.fortner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > "but we preach Christ crucified..." 1 Corinthians 1:23 > > -- > redhat-list mailing list > unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list > -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
