Robert Hanson roberth@abbacomm.net wrote:
what do really large companies use that do not allow or have 100% migrated away from "M$ windows servers" in their networks yet allow "windows clients" in their networks
"and"
must service all their windows clients needs just as *if* their were M$ servers on their networks?
In other words, you want a complete "drop in replacement" where the clients think they are connecting to a native Microsoft Windows server?
Or are you saying what do companies do when they want an "enterprise" server that can do what Windows servers do (and more!) that works with Windows and provides similar (if not more) capabilities?
Regarding the first, Samba does a fairly good job of complete emulation of the Windows SAM, domain, etc... models. What Samba does not do is provide all of the MS-LDAP capabilities of ADS so you can still run MS SQL 2000+, Exchange 2000+, etc...
Regarding the second, most organizations either:
1. Use an enterprise DAP (or LDAP) solution for their entire enterprise
2. Use an enterprise DAP/LDAP solution for the backbone of their enterprise, and then segment localized LDAP, ADS, eDirectory, etc... for departments that need it, and synchronize
3. Use both enterprise DAP/LDAP and ADS/eDirectory solution on the backbone, and synchornize
#1 used to be the most common before eDirectory and, then, ADS. Some companies used eDirectory as their DAP.
#2 became more common as both NDS (nka eDirectory) and Exchange 5.x started infiltrating networks (Exchange 5.x being its own, local DAP/X.500 implementation). It has become even more common with ADS adoption.
#3 is what a lot of organizations are now doing with ADS, because Exchange 2000+, MS SQL 2000+, etc... require ADS. Some are still using #2 though.
i believe this is what everyone is getting at in all these threads and yet there appears to be no 100% functional open source solution right now, is there?
Until Red Hat bought Netscape Directory Server, no, OpenLDAP left much to be desired.
But there _always_ has been Linux solutions. With NsDS gone GPL, we now have one of the most capable solutions in widespread use _before_ ADS was even available.