Tossing out file systems
You can argue with the CIO all you want about which server file system is best (it's FAT32 for Windows 2000 and ReisterFS for Linux, by the way) for networking, but what you really care about is getting clients access to remote file systems. There are two ways, one Unix-based, Network File System (NFS), and the other, Microsoft's Server Message Block protocol (SMB).
NFS is an industry standard for users to share files across platforms. But NFS is not an all-star, because of it's security problems. Proper network security can prevent those from becoming an issue. SMB doesn't have NFS's security troubles. But, even with its newest version, Common Internet File System (CIFS), it's really a solution only for Windows clients requiring access to Windows or Linux servers.
For our purposes, you easily can use both to give your users maximum flexibility. SFU provides NFS server, client and gateway services for W2K. The gateway is used to give Windows PCs access to NFS shared file systems just as if they were SMB shared files. Windows 2000 Professional comes with its own NFS server so it can access Unix NFS files without any additional software or the gateway.
Microsoft is not the only company, however, that enables you to let Windows users access NFS shares. Hummingbird's Maestro Suite has long set the standard for Windows-based NFS services.
On the other side, the open-source Samba is the best of SMB servers. Almost all Linux distributions include it, and it can be compiled and run on most Unix boxes.
While Samba's advanced functionalityâ€"-such as being able to run as an NT primary domain controller (PDC)-â€"won't work under AD, its primary file service runs exceptionally well.
There are, however, two potential trouble points. The first is that the Windows 2000 domain can't be set for Kerberos authentication only. Since AD's default is to allow NT style authentication, that shouldn't be a problem. You also must be sure to be running Samba 2.07 or higher. Earlier versions won't make the Linux/Windows 2000 team.
Playing for the championship
People often talk about Windows 2000 and Linux like they're in head-to-head competition. But that's not always the case. We expect to see more situations develop where the two operating systems will need to work together as teammates.
Even Microsoft agrees. While the details of bringing .Net to Linux and other operating systems are vague, Microsoft is showing more willingness to work with Linux than ever before. Even if Microsoft's promises turn out to be vapour, Ximian (www.ximian.com)â€"-formerly Helix Code, led by the Gnome leader Miguel de Icazaâ€"-is porting the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), a core interoperability mechanism in .Net, to Linux.
Even with such efforts, interoperability won't be easy. But integrators who get the pair to work together on an all-star team can expect to see major-league profits.
