Server setup as PDC with roaming profiles (win xp)
 

Hello to all... newbie here so sorry if this is not the right forum :)

I have a small network which consists on:

• router/internet
• switch
• Main server (HP ML350T5)
• 3 workstations (Win XP)
• 1 laptop (Win XP)
• Development server (web dev/LAMP)
• Network printer

I want to setup and centralize entire network so everything is stored on the main server including files/work, profiles, etc...

I'm totally newbie with linux (except the basics regarding my main profession which is web development) and will probably hire someone locally to do this for me but I need to know what are the suggestions so I can pass on the info :).

Which linux distribution should I look for? CentOS seems like pretty "mainstream" these days?

As said above, I would like to hear from hard core professionals, what do you suggest to install from AV, firewall, mail server, etc...

Thanks in advance,
Milos

The Samba suite that enables Linux to act as a PDC will run on any distribution. If it's for business then Debian stable or Ubuntu LTS are good choices, as is CentOS.

For a firewall use the facilities of your router, or buy a separate unit if you want the fancier features. An appliance will be much easier to manage, and keeps any problems away from your main server.

It's not really cost-effective to maintain your own mail service for a small number of accounts - a specialist email provider will have more infrastructure and expertise, and charge less than it would cost you to do it yourself (or to hire people at standard rates).

Thanks for the reply and answers :). I'm reading on the forums and many people suggest Debian for server. Any particular reason, beside stability, compared with lets say SUSE, Slackware, RH... ?

Also if someone can post a link(s) to guidelines on how to setup what I want?

I wrote this as a kind of shopping guide for people looking at distributions:

http://www.elsn.org/main/ChoosingALinuxDistribution

It probably undersells Debian a bit. You can download and install any established Open Source product through the package manager, and software packages are usually designed to work with no configuration required. Where that isn't possible, the package maintainer will either design the package to run a wizard, or put instructions in /usr/share/doc/<package-name>.

The absolute killer app, though, is the fact that you can upgrade from one version of Debian to the next just by running a command - you won't need to download a CD, or reinstall anything, and configuration is handled intelligently.

Ubuntu is based on Debian, so has the same advantages, but with most distributions upgrading a production server is sufficiently painful that it's easier to keep using obsolete software versions and put off the evil day.

RHEL and CentOS do include a package manager, but less software is available, live upgrades aren't supported, and you are expected to configure installed services yourself. Their distinctive selling points are built-in security hardening, and features that are useful for server farms, such as virtualization. Some people like SUSE, but IME it's Yast management system causes more problems than it solves. I beleive that Slackware does not include a package manager (!), so Slackware users have to install third-party products to get these kinds of facilities.

For Samba, http://www.samba.org provides the text of several books, including "Samba By Example" which walks through the setup for several different use cases.

SuSE supplies the Samba 3 by Example book (and others) if you install the samba-doc package.
/usr/share/doc/packages/samba/Samba3-ByExample.pdf
/usr/share/doc/packages/samba/Samba3-Developers-Guide.pdf
/usr/share/doc/packages/samba/Samba3-HOWTO.pdf

Fedora Core supplies this book in the Samba package.
ls /usr/share/doc/samba-3.0.24/Samba3*
/usr/share/doc/samba-3.0.24/Samba3-ByExample.pdf
/usr/share/doc/samba-3.0.24/Samba3-HOWTO.pdf
/usr/share/doc/samba-3.0.24/Samba3-Developers-Guide.pdf

Other distro's probably also include these books. The "Using Samba" first edition is included with swat.

Are your XP machines XP the Home or XP Pro editions? If they are XP home, then domain logons won't work.
Microsoft crippled some aspects of networking for XP to force businesses to spend extra on XP Pro.

@hob
Thanks for sharing this great article you wrote, it's much more clearer now :)

WS will have XP Pro. I was thinking on trying Vista Business but a lot of people said no to rush with Vista.... yet :)

So you don''t have these machines yet. In that case, you might consider Linux or BSD instead. ;)

I take it that "WS" is a typo for We, and implies a business network. The size of the network is small, so what does the monthly license come to for 4 XP Pro clients?

WS implies a "work stations". I've got OEM licenses and I need to use Windows because of the software I'm using for design/development (Adobe)