[Samba] About NAS versus Samba

[Fernando Lozano]

Hi,

>>>> Hi there, Has anyone tried to configure a NAS server to authenticate
>>>> users using a Samba PDC, or even a Samba4 DC (AD-compatible) or an IPA
>>>> server?
>>> not in a while, but I have done a samba 3 DC
>> This was not my question. I'm ok running samba 3 DCs. :-)
> oh but it was!  PDC means NT4 style, so samba PDC means samba 3
> domain!  If you're searching for information, this kind of nitpicky
> detail is important for an accurate answer.

Well, I know how to setup a Samba 3 PDC, with other "BDCs" using LDAP 
replication. Fortunately I do not need help doing this. And I was not 
asking what is a Samba PDC, I know that, I know MSAD and etc

  I'm not asking the IT manager in you and other list members, I'm 
asking the network admins and sysadmins about wich products worked or 
didn't work based on their real-world experience.

My question is wether a NAS (which one) will be able to become a member 
server on the samba NT-style domain, of if it will work only as member 
of a real MSAD domain from a Windows Server. Do you know the answer,

I talked about "even a Samba 4 DC" because if someone answers me "won't 
work for a samba 3 pdc, but should work with a samba 4 DC" I'll 
seriously think about moving my test-lab samba 4 setup into production, 
otherwise I was not willing to do this just for the NAS.

I'm even open to IPA, a software I've never tried. It looks like can 
replace my Samba3 DCs with advantes, and is well supported by Red Hat, 
while Samba 4 is not. Today I'd rather run Samba 4 without support than 
learning an entirely new network login solution. But if the new solution 
makes using a NAS easier I may change my mind.

>> AFAIK it shouldn't matter, from a technical perspective, [Fedora vs RHEL]
> I agree.  But you're asking questions that show us that you assume
> that this is not the case.  If that's your concern, then the disto
> you're using is important since they all put in their own patches, or
> not, and that's where issues raise.

For now it only matters to me if sometone tells "i tried with ACME NAS 
and RHEL and it worked, but tried the same NAS with Fedora and it 
didn't" or vice-versa.  I can compile samba myself if needed, or get 
packages from a repo outisde the official distro ones.


> if you can verify the samba version on the nas, that should have your
> answer since those issues are well tracked.  Generally, if it supports
> AD, it supports a samba AD.  Bugs are possible, but bugs can also be
> fixed.
If I had the NAS box here I'd verify. But I'm still evaluating which one 
to buy, and for small purchages / small companies no one gives me a box 
for a POC.

I wish information on with products / vendors have a track record of 
working (or not working) as member servers to a samba 3 domain, so I 
won't loose time talking to those vendors or evaluating those products.

As I said in the previous messages, trying to get this information from 
the vendors themselves was a failure, so I'm appealing to the list.

Unfortunately, as nobody besides you, on both lists, replied to me, I 
must assume that no NAS in the market was ever proven to work using a 
Samba PDC, and so buying any NAS is out of question for me. :-(

Maybe I'll instead buy a DAS box to which I can connect 4 to 8 server 
machines using SAS links, and let the file servers running as samba 
processes inside linux VMs.


[]s, Fernando Lozano


[]s, Fernando Lozano