[Samba] Need Advice

[Nathan Vidican]

Okay, first off: You cannot replicate/use Samba as a BDC when an actual NT 
server is the PDC; though functionally the same, the storage and back-end 
facilities differ too much from NT4 to Samba+LDAP to necessitate PDC/BDC 
relationships. NT4 has it's own way of communicating with BDC's and it's not the 
Samba way. So, make a choice: Samba+LDAP vs NT4... personally, my monies on 
Samba+LDAP. We're running Samba PDC & BDCs here using OpenLDAP trees slaved with 
slurpd replication to a master tree - works great (knock on wood) for about 75 
office and engineering users here.

Domain trust relationships do exist, but to what extent that will be useful to 
you is beyond me, I opted for the 'all-opensource' route myself. If an 
inter-domain trust relationship can be setup, using the usernames/account 
information from the current PDC; then I'd go with creating a new domain/PDC 
using samba at the second site and try it personally. This would make it easier 
for you to eventually migrate the main site over and get away from NT4... not to 
mention give you some practical experience with the remote site vs having to 
migrate/figure it all out at the same time. But again, the inter-domain trust 
relationship(s) between NT4 PDC and a Samba+LDAP PDC are beyond the scope of my 
skills and better left to others on this list to answer. I just thought it a 
good point to point out that replication between NT4 PDC/BDC is NOT possible to 
Samba as a BDC afaik.

Travis Bullock wrote:
> Alternatively, could I set up a knew Domain in the new location, have the
> PDC be Samba but have a two-way trust between the new domain and my old
> windows NT 4.0 domain?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: samba-bounces+tbullock=avmax.ca at lists.samba.org
> [mailto:samba-bounces+tbullock=avmax.ca at lists.samba.org] On Behalf Of Travis
> Bullock
> Sent: February 27, 2006 2:04 PM
> To: 'James Taylor'; 'Samba'
> Subject: RE: [Samba] Need Advice
> 
> Well that is what I was thinking as well, but I was unsure if Samba was able
> to act as a BDC. How does the account replication work between my NT4.0 PDC
> and the Samba BDC? I do not have the time right now to switch from MS to
> Samba at my main site. I am trying to learn the ways of the force in regards
> to OpenLDAP and Samba but have not mastered them yet.
> 
> With MS still acting as the PDC, will this negate the possibility of a Samba
> BDC?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: samba-bounces+tbullock=avmax.ca at lists.samba.org
> [mailto:samba-bounces+tbullock=avmax.ca at lists.samba.org] On Behalf Of James
> Taylor
> Sent: February 27, 2006 1:55 PM
> To: tbullock at avmaxgrp.com; 'Samba'
> Subject: RE: [Samba] Need Advice
> 
> Save yourself the costs of having to buy licensing and extra equipment and
> run Samba as an NT4 BDC.  In my humble belief it would be easier for you to
> maintain and less overhead at your remote location where you might have
> limited IT support.
> 
> JT
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: samba-bounces+jtaylor=laszlosystems.com at lists.samba.org
> [mailto:samba-bounces+jtaylor=laszlosystems.com at lists.samba.org] On Behalf
> Of Travis Bullock
> Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 12:53 PM
> To: Samba
> Subject: [Samba] Need Advice
> 
> Greetings,
> 
>  
> 
> We are going to be expanding our operations to another city. I currently use
> Samba and Winbind to provide shares and file access to my existing locations
> users. The account information is kept on a NT4.0 PDC and BDC.
> 
>  
> 
> I have connected the new location via OpenVPN. I am wondering how I should
> go about expanding my domain. Should I set up another NT4.0 BDC in the new
> office and have a local Samba machine get account info from that via
> Winbind? Or should I set up the Samba machine as a BDC itself? Is it
> possible for a Samba BDC to receive account updates from a NT4.0 PDC?
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers,
> 
>  
> 
> Travis
> 


-- 
Nathan Vidican
nvidican at wmptl.com
Windsor Match Plate & Tool Ltd.
http://www.wmptl.com/