Re: [school-discuss] Replacing Active Directory with Linux File Server

[Tim Dressel <tjdressel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Just like Linux is so much more than a file or web server, AD is a lot more than a file server as well.

In my opinion, if you are going to be a "windows" desktop shop, maintain your core AD infrastructure, but for low value high cost saving reasons reasons (like file and web servers) integrate Linux where it makes sense. You save on server licenses and CAL's.

In the last 4 years Microsoft has really been pushing the power of a Windows based server, especially around server consolidation. Unfortunately I think the theory behind this is that hardware was more expensive than the licensing which quite often is not the case anymore. Although windows servers do add a lot of bloat to the OS, once up and running, out of the box they are tuned pretty well. An out of the box linux/samba distro usually works well for a small workgroup, any more than that and you are diddling config files which may or may not be up your alley.

As for swapping Exchange for something open source, it depends on what you are using it for. We are just in a migration project from FirstClass to Exchange, but we did do a serious evaluation on Google Apps and Zimbra, both of which integrate nicely with LDAP and even AD. We did not choose Google Apps for several reasons about moving our data to the cloud, and quite frankly the integration components felt fragile. Zimbra was a very close second to Exchange. There were some things missing in the open source/free version though that we would have had to go for the paid version. Speaking with our sales rep (who was veryÂaccommodating) he gave us deep discounts off the list prices to entice us to come over, but Microsoft was still cheaper in the end. The final decision was based upon my technicians comfort levels with Linux, while growing, was not strong enough to move.

I think if Microsoft on the Desktop was rare, there is no good reason not to go to something like Linux LDAP and Zimbra. But as long as the integration between AD and the Desktop continues to be so tight, I think it will be a while before that migration takes place.

I was speaking to a global company the other day about their network OS infrastructure plans and if based upon their volume in the commercial sector if it made sense to swap out for open source whole hog. This is an AD and Lotus Domino/Notes org, roughly 10,000 employees on 4 continents. They have too much invested in Lotus to walk away, but they are replacing servers with Linux underneath (from Windows) which has made a huge impact on their tech dollars. They are also replacing file servers with Samba servers, but they have gone the OpenFiler route which I thought was interesting. I setup an Intel ss4200 a while back running openfiler and although it worked well, I was not convinced that I would ever replace a windows file server with it.

Good luck in your search!

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 9:41 AM, David M. Bucknell <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

What's the latest take on replacing a Windows 2003 file server with Linux?

Need Active Dir-like capabilities and perhaps an Exchange tie-in or replacement.

I've been reading this: http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/17/2255247
which has lots of people saying don't bother.

I thought Samba and LDAP were the answers, but people are saying they aren't good enough or they're too management-intensive.

Any (the more recent, the better, I guess) experiences you're willing to share?

Thank you,

David
--
* Flossed.org -- Free and Open Schools -- Free and Open Minds
* IKN (International Knowledge Networks, Co., Ltd. Thailand)
* http://intknowledge.com
* Web Ideas, Tools and Sites for Teachers, Schools, Businesses and You.
* Sustainable Learning Technologies
* Cell: +66(0*)84 329 1183; Office: +66(0*)2 980 9464 (*No "0" if calling from
overseas.)

----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.