LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Andrew Speer <andrew.speer@isolutions.com.au>
  To  : linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au
  Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 12:37:28 +1030

Re: Linux as an NT Server replacement

Nick Morrison, and others wrote regarding Richard Russell's query about
Linux as an NT server replacement. In part, Nick (and others mentioned
similarly)


----- Original Message -----
From: Nick Morrison <nickm@bhwb.nsw.gov.au>
To: Richard Russell <rarussel@lincoln.college.adelaide.edu.au>;
<linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 4:08 PM
Subject: RE: Linux as an NT Server replacement
>
> The only thing that you might have to look out for is replacing the
> functionality of MS Exchange when it comes to schedule+ etc (or whatever
it
> is now..)..  allowing multiple people to access each others schedule in
> Outlook or MS Exchange etc.  The MS Exchange Server is required for that
to
> happen.
>
> The only hard thing to completely replace is the Exchange Server.
>

My understanding is the HP OpenMail was developed "in conjunction with
Microsoft", and supports the full MS Outlook client, apparently including
calendaring and address books. It also supports "standard" protocols like
POP/MIME and SMTP, and possibly LDAP.

I have not set it up yet, but am trying to convince a client of mine to set
it up as a trial system to replace their archaic MS Mail setup. I am a
little surprised it does not get more press, as it seems to be a reasonably
priced package ($US50 per mailbox from memory) for corporates.

I tend to use Linux as a server type solution for small/medium businesses,
most of whom do *not* use Linux on the desktop for their own (many and
varied) reasons. The combination of Open Source servers such as OpenLDAP,
Sendmail, UW or Cyrus POP/IMAP and closed source clients, like Outlook
Express, Eudora, Netscape etc seems to work quite well as a mail
environment.

The back ends are powerful and flexible enough for administrators to get
what they need done, and the front end clients are slick and polished enough
to give users a easy working environment.

It would seem that the only thing that is really missing is the group
calendaring, and this is probably possible if you use OpenMail. I have seen
some web based calendars, but they cannot really cut it. It seems to be the
sort of app where a GUI client works best (eg click and drag on timeline
bars to set durations). Java may be able to help web based systems, but it
would need a fair bit of work.

Linux also works very well as an adjunct to an NT server environment - in
some cases this is the bet way to get a "foot in the door" to an existing
shop. To be fair NT is a reasonably robust file and print platform, and I
think you would be hard pressed to walk into a corporate and convert them
immediately to Samba on Linux, especially when file and print services are
so integral to a back office environment. I am not saying it could not be
done in the long term, it is just a pretty big ask for a straight swap
overnight.

However it does seem easier to install Linux as a peripheral "service"
server, undertaking such roles as Internet gateway, Web server etc. Almost
all Linux server apps support PAM, so services which require authentication
(perhaps such as the Squid proxy server) can authenticate against an NT
server, allowing the user to have only one username/password.

What is the point of this mail ? I guess I am trying to say that sometimes
it is not possible (or even desirable) to just "replace" NT outright, but it
is possible to combine NT and Linux into an environment which provides a
competitive match for the most common application services
(Mail/Database/File/Print etc), but at a lower cost (and perhaps higher
reliability) than that environment implemented solely on NT servers alone.

Andrew Speer