[K12OSN] Managing a Samba PDC

[Mark Cockrell]

>
>Ok...first issue...you have 4 machines handling authentication and you
>ONLY have 700 users?  I have one server and 600 users and don't even come
>REMOTELY close to needing another server.  Did some M$ vendor sell you on
>this idea?  I'm all for backups and BDC's, but there's a point where it's
>overkill.  
>
    As I said before, this started out as 4 separate LANs, each with its 
own PDC.  When we connected the campuses, I simply made one of the 
existing servers a PDC and demoted the rest to BDCs.

>Anyway...you can easily build a Samba/LDAP server to handle
>what you're doing now.  I use mine as my PDC serving roaming profiles for
>Win XP and also auth'ing my Terminal server which is a member of the
>domain.  It also handles all the auth'ing on the Linux side and houses the
>users home dirs that are then exported to the various servers via NFS. 
>The biggest issue is about users.  What I normally do....I wait until
>summer...blow the servers away along with all the users and recreate from
>scratch.  I give my staff another simple server to back their stuff up on
>to (stuff they NEED to keep) and blow the rest away.  
>
    I've spent the last 4 years telling my staff to use the server to 
store their files rather than the local HD.  Now that they're finally 
understanding the concept that they can keep all their "stuff" in one 
place, that gets backed up nightly, and access it from anywhere, I'm not 
about to go deleting things.  If I'm going to move things, it'll have to 
be just that- a lateral move in which all of their data and file 
permissions are intact.  Is this possible?

>Let us know and we'll help you along   :-)   Welcome over from the "dark side".  
>
    My first experience with the "Light Side of the Force" was Dan's 
Guardian.  I took a "spare" PC, slapped RH9 on it and turned it into a 
no-cost content filter to get the Feds. off our backs.  Since then I've 
set up 1 pure file server using Samba, one K12LSTP server feeding 2 labs 
and 2 libraries, a Web server hosting Mambo, and I'm currently 
experimenting with OpenBiblio to replace our proprietary (and poorly 
designed) library system.

>You'll love the freedom and ease of use once you
>make the change.  I love being able to easily manage my servers via ssh
>from anywhere in the world....it's very liberating and allows me to get
>out and go home more.   :-) 
>  
>
    I use VNC over PuTTY for my NT servers.

>PS:  As for backup? 
>
    Oh yeah, I almost forgot my FC2 box running BackupPC.  Thanks Les.

>   ;-) 
>
>One more thing....go gigabit on this server...makes a WORLD of difference!
>  
>
    We don't have the infrastructure for Gigabit, but I am buying 
10/100/1000 NICs in preparation for that day.

C-ya,
Mark
____
"The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously." -- Henry Kissinger