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Linux's unparalleled functionality and adaptability have made it the main alternative to Unix and Microsoft Windows operating systems. And with good reason. System administrators realize that this robust alternative can greatly improve their operating system's reliability and save them money, too. Linux systems are even less vulnerable to attacks by computer viruses and worms. Not surprisingly, businesses, government agencies, schools, and a wealth of other institutions are all looking to Linux to replace the Windows desktop for these same benefits.
Linux in a Windows World takes an in-depth look at exactly how Linux can be brought into an organization that's currently based on Microsoft Windows systems. Featuring a litany of insider tips and techniques, Linux in a Windows World dispenses all the practical advice you need to migrate to this revolutionary open source software.
Author Roderick W. Smith, himself a renowned system administrator and Linux convert, understands that the skills required to install, deploy, and maintain Linux are not easy to find. That's why he has tapped the absolute best source of information available: the Linux server experts who have made it their life's work to build and manage the Linux system.
The latest in O'Reilly's line of bestselling Linux titles, Linux in a Windows World is an invaluable companion for any system administrator interested in integrating Linux into their Windows environment.
Great Linux/Windows Integration ReferenceReviewed by Christoph Simmons, 2006-08-10
This book did not favor any one Linux OS over another (good). Most Linux configuration was via commandline (which most will advocate in a Unix environment) and direct editing of conf files. Each chapter has a great balance of common practices, breaking down the common config parameters, then implementing. Overall, a great reference.
NetBIOS? I say again NetBIOS?!?Reviewed by Darkstar, 2006-02-25
Working several years as a certified Windows Administrator, I find
it strange to have a complete chapter soley dedicated to the topic
of NetBIOS. Who uses NetBIOS? I looked further into the book, and
the all SAMBA material seems to be a rehash older and
overdocumented SAMBA 2.0 docs...
I looked at another section and it seems that Windows NT 4 time was
covered (maybe accidently through author's misunderstanding of
Windows time?) and w32time service. The later uses the NTP time
standard, while older Windows NT 4 time relies on NetBIOS...
Hmmm... Maybe that's the reason for a NetBIOS chapter.
I was hoping for something more to deal with Active Directory and
modern systems, but learn interoperability to stuff you can only
buy at the swap-meet or flea-market.
I didn't cover any other chapters, as they seem to focus on
Linux-to-Linux interoperability. Yes, I know, but it is true,
Windows coverage in the other sections is less than 5% - 10%.
So bottom line, most of book is Linux with honoroble mention here
and there of Windows, the chapters fully focused on Windows
interoperability are rehash of SAMBA 2.0 and how to hook into
end-of-life Windows NT 4. And you get a whole chapter on NetBIOS?
Shall we *cough* look for other books?
Very good bookReviewed by Tomas Znamenacek, 2006-01-21
This is a very good book on the topic. The author knows what he is talking about, he doesn't skip anything and explains almost everything that should be explained. Although there are some typos and small errors in the book, they are corrected in the errata. Accessible, thorough, well written, well organized, well supported. Definitely worth the money.
A pertinent intro to using Linux in a heterogeneous environmentReviewed by Damian Taggart, 2005-12-16
Linux in a Windows World by Roderick Smith (O'Reilly) is an
excellent aid for anyone trying to work in a heterogeneous
environment. It is targeted at administrators who would like to add
the flexibility, security and stability of Linux to existing
Windows networks. While primarily focused on integrating Linux
servers in the enterprise, to add functionality or replace Windows
servers, Smith also addresses the addition of Linux workstations
and thin clients to a Windows network.
The text begins with a brief discussion of the available options
for leveraging Linux in a Windows-dominated environment and when
and where such applications are appropriate and effective.
Smith walks you through Samba file and print sharing,
authentication with LDAP, Kerberos, NT domains, followed by remote
access methods, and a medley of additional server applications for
mail, backups and network management. I found the format very
accessible; simple and clear enough for those new to Linux, but
with sufficient detail to get up-and-running with a basic
configuration.
The tone was refreshingly objective. Windows and Linux options were
presented in an even-handed way, absent was the Windows bashing
that frequently enters Linux literature. I was somewhat
disappointed that the book spent so much time on increasingly
obsolete NT Domains and so little with Active Directory, but it is
understandable as the proprietary nature of Windows necessitates a
lag time in the development of interoperable open source
technologies.
Overall I found Linux in a Windows World to be an excellent
resource for mixed networks. I would consider it a must read for
anyone thinking about adding Linux to their Windows network. It
covers all the bases, giving the reader an overview of the
available options before delving into the most common solutions. I
personally found it useful in configuring several servers in my
all-Linux network.
Linux in a Linux World (re-submit)Reviewed by Joaquin Menchaca, 2005-12-01
This book has well developed details on Linux client configuration
for Linux only solutions with some small Windows tidbits thrown in.
Given that the scope of this book should be "Linux in a Windows
World", I expected more material on connecting Linux to modern
Windows infrastructure, especially Active Directory. What coverage
that was offered on Windows, e.g. some chapters dedicated to SAMBA,
was mostly focused on 10-year older Windows NT era of technologies.
I will delve in to some topics to illustrate this.
In Kerberos (Chapter 9), more than 80% of the coverage is about
Linux Kerberos solutions and client configuration. There is a
measly 2 pages out of 30 on Windows client configuration. In one
area (page 216), the author states that Kerberos to Kerberos
cross-realm trust to Active Directory would beyond the scope of
this book, but I seem to recall that this information took up
roughly 5 pages of text in Kerberos, The Definitive Guide by Jason
Garman. There is zero coverage on how to configure Linux to use
Active Directory KDC, which is something done in about two pages
from the same aforementioned book. I'm wondering where's the
"Windows World" involved in this as overall coverage is again for
Linux to Linux.
For the topic of LDAP (Chapter 8), the coverage is again about
configuring Linux clients to use OpenLDAP for authentication. Even
within the scope of Linux-to-Linux the information was limited
(there's less than adequate coverage about how lack of caching can
cause serious problems, or how to use things like SASL for
Kerberized authentication of LDAP). There is no mention of using
Active Directory LDAP in this chapter for Linux clients. There was
some coverage of Windows client configuration through pGina.
However, I would prefer to see Windows solutions as this is suppose
to be about a "Windows World" book, but get Linux-to-Linux
solutions and with pGina, a Windows-to-Linux solution.
On the topic of DNS and DHCP (Chapter 15), only Linux solutions are
covered, so there is no information on using Linux with Windows
DHCP and DNS backends. In the scope of Linux DHCP, the information
is very limited, and there is no information on how to assign IP
addresses based on computer names, which is a feature that even
Windows DHCP doesn't support. Windows clients spit out names with
an appended "0" character to the DHCP server, which could be use
for further configuration of services. In the scope of Linux DNS,
there is no information about features needed in BIND to make it
interoperable with Windows Active Directory, or even Linux Kerberos
solutions for that matter. One needs Dynamic DNS, support for SRV
records, and in particular for Active Direcotry, one needs support
for underscore characters "_", which I heard is a compile time
option for BIND9. Additionally, Microsoft has a proprietary WINS
record for legacy support that is not supported by BIND. Both
Microsoft certification publications and "DNS and BIND" by Albitz
and Liu (O'Reilly) offer solution scenarios for this. None of this
important essential information was presented, as the predominant
focus appears to be Linux-to-Linux.
On the topic of NTP services (Chapter 15), the information is
applicable for older Windows 9X/ME/NT systems that used a NetBIOS
to locate a non-NTP service from Windows NT. In Windows XP/2003
that is so ancient history and Windows has full support for NTP
client and services through the w32tm command. This is completely
absent from from the presentation and details on this topic. Also
surprising is no mention of why time sychronization is vital to
either any Kerberos solutions, including Active Directory; any
clients authentication to a Kerberos KDC should sychronize to the
clock on that same server, or else users will not be able to log on
if their clocks are more than 5 minutes off.
When covering mail technologies (Chapter 13), most of the
documentation is an overview of mail technology and a exploration
of Linux solutions with sendmail and postfix, which is very good
presentation of those technologies. Microsoft Excahnge Server gets
an honorable mention of less than 2 pages out of 51 pages. I would
have appreciated more scenarios on how to integrate Exchange
including for a variety of technologies, and would also have been
interested in Windows clients that would hook into Linux solutions.
There's no mention that that modern versions of Exchange are
dependent on Active Directory -- something of a headache for Linux
admins, but important consideration for planning the
infrastructure. The Windows interoperability in this area like
other chapters was quite lacking.
There are four chapters in Part II "Sharing Files and Printers"
dedicated to SAMBA and related technologies like CUPS integration.
The coverage here is predominantly focused on 10-year old Windows
NT era technologies. One chapter is even dedicated to NetBIOS
Network, something even Windows admins wish would have never
existed. I don't know but I would hope that interoperability would
cover modern technologies that are at least applicable within the
last three years (after all, Windows 2003 is about 3 years old
now). There only mention of Active Directory, and NONE of the
richness found in where Linux boxes can be added to Active
Directory domain, authenticate through ActiveDirectory via
windbindd (with support for caching), and Windows account sid
(security id) to user id (uid) and group id (gid) mapping with LDAP
Unix schema support with either SFU 3.5 or AD4Unix in Active
Directory (( NOTE: This can be done through SAMBA 3.0.20 and above,
but authors haven't a clue )). The interoperability here is for
historical network scenarios that is well covered in existing
published (and online free) books. I would expect that a book
written in this time would offer appicable Windows
interoperability.
In the scope of printing through CUPS (Chapter 4), there's no
mention that I can tell of Windows support for IPP, the same
technology that CUPS uses. Linux clients can connect directly to
Windows IPP printer without even touching SAMBA (just have to use
port 80 in the URL as Microsoft implemented their solution before
the RFC was finalized). Some redeeming qualities of this section
was how to do free PDF-Gernation printer share on Linux, and also
how to implement Microsoft RPC facility (through SAMBA) for
auto-insstallation of printer drivers on Windows clients.
Overall, given that the focus is predominantly Linux for Linux
solutions, this book maybe should be called "Linux in a Linux
World". If you need an overview of Linux technologies and
solutions, then this is a decent book, but if you want modern
real-world details on interoperability to Windows, then there are
far better books in this space.
