[Samba] AD in Samba 3

[David Hargreave]

Hi,

I have a small issue that I hope I can get some help with.  Our company 
was just about to role out Samba 3.  We have about 300 employees and 
multiple offices (4 offices).  Unfortunately an "independant" 
consultancy company has done an audit which criticises this desision.

Could someone with a very good understanding of Samba (preferrably 
someone on the development team) assist me in responding to the points 
raised below?

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Samba 3 based solutions cannot provide the following enterprise 
services used by  the most recent releases of Microsoft products (XP, 
Office 2003 etc)
1.  Active Directory Server support for Microsoft desktop operating 
systems  and desktop applications – some features will not be available 
in office etc  without AD.
2.  Group Policy Objects – assist in reducing the effort required to 
maintain a  secure network.
3.  Machine Policy Objects – assist in reducing the effort required to 
manage  the user desktop and workstation environments.
4.  Logon Scripts stored in Active Directory – provides a single point 
of  management for all critical user resources.
5.  Software Application and Access Controls in Active Directory – 
provides a  single point of management for all network security 
settings.
6.  Out of the box automated distributed directory services – allows a 
single  team to remotely manage servers and workstations in branch 
offices and  provides disaster recovery capabilities.

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I appreciate the assistance very much.

David