Linux in a Windows World




Author: Roderick W. Smith

Published by: O'Reilly Media, Inc


Reviewed by: Brian Boudreau

Member of MELUG-Central

A Division of MainE Linux Users Group




Regardless of which magazine you may read, regardless of which online source you may refer to, Linux is quickly becoming a strong alternative to Windows and Unix as a server operating system. If you were to continue reading various trade magazines, you would soon realize that many IT departments are using more than one operating system on site, with the usual combination being Windows and Linux. Therefore, a smart systems administrator might want to get a handle on Linux at the server level.


According to the author, the book was written with the Windows system administrator in mind. However, he does caution that the Windows system administrator would need a basic understanding of Linux in order to be able to make full use of the book. From what I have read, I would agree with the author.


The book starts off with a quick overview of the features of Linux, and how Linux compares to Windows. From there, the author continues on with an overview of some possible Linux deployment strategies.


Part Two of the book is where the need for an understanding of Linux comes into play. Part Two starts off with a brief overview of Samba, which does get into some good detail about how to setup and configure Samba.


The remainder of Part Two details different ways of managing file and print shares. In addition, the author gets into a little more detail regarding the use of Samba as a domain controller on a NetBIOS network. However, anyone who is interested in reading about Samba in greater detail may want to read Using Samba, Second Edition. written by Jay Ts, Robert Eckstein, and David Collier-Brown and published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.


Part Three of the book details different three different tools a system administrator may use for centralized authentication. Those tools are:


The chapter on using NT domains has even more detail of how to use Samba and Winbind to authenticate a Linux server onto a Windows domain. This part of the book does assume the reader has a solid knowledge of Windows Active Directory, as well as some of the Linux tools that are available to the reader to configure Samba. However, the author does take some time to gloss over the use and configuration of the different tools necessary to at least get the reader started on putting a Linux server onto a Windows domain.


The chapter on LDAP is rather brief, packed with a ton of technical information. The author starts the chapter off with a brief explanation of LDAP, followed by a very brief explanation of how to configure LDAP. The chapter ends with a brief overview of how to configure both Linux and Windows to use LDAP for logging in. Someone who is interested in learning more about LDAP may want to pick up the book LADP System Administrationâwritten by Gerald Carter andand published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.


The final chapter in Part Three covers the use of Kerberos for login authentication. Like the previous two chapters, the author gives a brief overview of what Kerberos is along with some of the Kerberos tools available in Linux. The chapter ends with an overview of how to configure Keberos. Once again, anyone wanting to learn about Kerberos in more detail would be advised to read Kerberos: The Definitive Guide written by Jason Garman and published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.


Part Four of the book highlights some remote login tools. Starting off with text based login tools, the author briefly details how to setup an SSH server, how to setup a Telnet server, and what some of the Windows remote login tools he may use.


The remainder of Part Four covers GUI logins and Linux thin client configurations. Again, the chapters covering these subjects are overviews only, packed with a lot of detail. Anyone who needs a different perspective or another explanation on some of the subjects covered would be advised to seek out books that cover the desired subject matter in greater detail.


Finally, Part Five covers additional server necessities. Part Five starts out with configuring different mail servers such as Sendmail, Postfix, POP and IMAP, and how to use Fetchmail. A systems administrator who wants more detailed information on these items would be advised to read the following books:

Sendmail:

Postfix

IMAP



Continuing into Part Five, the author details different backup strategies, with some attention being paid on backing up Linux. In addition, the author gets into more Samba details, this time, for backup purposes.


Finally, Part Five ends with an overview of managing a network using Linux. The primary focus of the chapter is on DHCP, DNS, and NTP.


âLinux in a Windows World, is a great book for a Windows systems administrator who also has a good understanding of Linux. Each of the major areas of the book gives a great overview of the major points to be covered, and acts as a great refresher for an experienced administrator. Even if the administrator has little or no experience with Linux, the book is detailed enough to give the reader enough information to get started. However, anyone desiring greater details on some points covered within Linux in a Windows World would be advised to visit the O'Reilly website for additional reference materials.