Samba 3.0 Offers Alternative To Windows Server

Samba 3.0 offers better interoperability with Windows NT and Windows 2000/2003 networks than the previous version. The updated Samba code provides an open-source implementation of Windows NT domains, seamless integration into Microsoft Active Directory and single sign-on for Unix and Linux clients into Microsoft's directory.

Samba enables customers to deploy file and print services to Windows desktops without having to pay for Windows server client access licenses. Like the popular Apache open-source Web server, Samba is bundled with all leading Linux distributions including SuSE, Red Hat, Xandros, Lindows and Debian.

With the new NT and Active Directory features in Samba 3.0 users can transparently migrate existing Windows NT domains to the Samba 3.0 Domain Controller. Moreover, the Samba 3.0 Domain Controller can integrate with Active Directory in native and mixed modes and supports trust relationships, allowing Linux servers and clients to snap into a Windows environment with ease.

Solution providers in the Linux space eye this open-source release as a major breakthrough for millions still using Windows NT server, and for those that have migrated to the more pricey Windows 2000/2003 servers.

"Samba 3.0 will shake Microsoft and its market share more than any previous version of Samba because it provides an escape for the millions of servers still running Windows NT 4.0 and its Domain Architecture," said Anthony Awtrey, vice president at Ideal Corp., a Linux solution provider based in Orlando, Fla.