Advanced Networking Question

Hi! I have been put in charge of setting up a server at my university for our solar car team. We have 4 computers that will run windows 2000/98 and I would like them to log onto a central server running linux (samba) so I only have 1 username/password list and so that all files are stored in one place. Please note that this is only a small part of a very large campus network, in only one workgroup. I will also use the samba server as a WINS server. My questions are: Do I need to have samba act as a "Primary Domain Controller" (PDC)? Will this affect the rest of the network in any way? Can anyone offer any advice for setting up the SMB.conf file?

I have found a few pages on using samba as a primary domain controller, and I think this is what I need to do, but I need everything to happen as seamlessly as possible. Thank you very much for any and all help!

-Brad Larson

 

Need more information to give a reasonable answer.

Are you sure you need a domain for your system?

Do the PCs you are setting up need to interact with the main campus LAN/WAN?

And any other odd bits of information you feel like adding.

 

I don't really know if I need a domain or not, I've really only worked with peer to peer networks.... What I do need is for my 4 windows boxes to log into a samba server, so that I only have one password file and so that I don't have to create multiple accounts for everyone. Also the server will be used for storage space.

I will need to be connected to the campus LAN mainly for an internet connection, and to let the workstations get IP addresses from the DHCP server.

My only real concern with doing this is if I affect any other domains that might be set up on the LAN (as it is a Very big network). I can have samba be a primary domain controller for just my workgroup, and not mess with any other workgroups on the network, right?

Thanks for the help!

-Brad Larson

 

Sorry for the delay in replying. Haven't been on here for a few days.

The short answer is that what you are speaking of will ***** things up royally on the main campus network unless you do lots of stuff, do it very carefully, and work closely with the network admins for the main campus LAN.

And even then you may not be able to do it. Having your own WINS server and Domain controller and still trying to use DHCP assignments from the .... well, my suggestion is don't.

Domains and workgroups are somewhat, sorta, kinda similar in philosophy but totally different in terms of overall behavior.

Sounds like all you need is to use the linux/samba box as a file server for your other work stations. Let the main network take care of all the housekeeping.

Why not see if they will assign you a static IP address for the linux/samba system (not required but nice for keeping things simple). Then all you need to do is set up password protected shares on it and map the other work stations to the shares.