[BBLISA] Open source AD alternative

[Warren Luebkeman]

Thats very interesting.  We are utilizing Samba 4 for our Active Directory
implementation, and for the most part we leave it alone from a development
stand point, at least now anyway.  Samba is a very thorough and stable
solution, so I'm not sure there would be much advantage to us, at this point
anyway, to try to assemble a different technology.

In a nutshell, Resara Server is taking existing technology and making it
accessible and easy to use by anyone, regardless of Linux expertise.  The
management tools, packaging, and support are our development priorities.

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 5:36 PM, Dean Anderson <dean at av8.com> wrote:

> This is not as hard as you might think, but still a lot of work.
>
> You need some things:
>        kerberos5
>        directory service
>        RPC integrated with k5 and directory service
>        Optional: Distributed File System (few sites use DFS from either
>                OSF or M$, but its the same thing)
>
> On that layer, you can do cool things like group policy, etc.
>
> Microsoft ActiveDirectory is based o a reimplementation of OSF DCE, from
> the OSF Application Environment Specification (AES). Microsoft liked
> DCE, but determined that it was cheaper to re-implement it than to
> licence source from OSF.  The good news is that while DCE is slightly
> crufty 18 year code, it still works with MS, and OSF has made the code
> GPL. So you could, conceivably, update it to run on modern unix systems.
> Then you will need to re-implement the group policy and other
> enhancements made by M$ over the years.
>
> Another enhancement that MS did was in the actual directory service
> implementation.  MS used LDAP, while OSF used a cell directory service
> from Apollo and HP. OSF also included an X.500 service that almost no
> one used at the time, but in retrospect was obviously the way to go.
>
> The easy part of the work is changing to ANSI c, updating stdarg, etc.
> The hard part is a pthread4 adapter. Fortunately, Jim Doyle and others
> have done a lot of work on that. I can get you a copy if need be.
>
> M$ RPC is completely compatible with OSF DCE on the TCP stack, but they
> made a trivial change to the UDP stack. I've been meaning to update the
> OSF RFC to reflect the MS changes, but it hasn't been pressing.  Let me
> know if you intend to go this route, and I'll see what I can do to help
> out.
>
>                --Dean
>
>
>
> On Fri, 18 Feb 2011, Warren Luebkeman wrote:
>
> > We are a software company up in NH, and have developed a free/open source
> > Linux Active Directory server based on Samba.  The objective of this
> project
> > was to create an AD alternative that was easier to use, and accessible to
> > anyone regardless of expertise.  Its mostly geared towards small
> businesses,
> > but is also being used in schools on large networks.
> >
> > We are looking for people to download/test the beta of the software we
> > released earlier this week.  If any of you are IT consultants that work
> with
> > small businesses, I think this could be a very useful tool for you.
> >
> > Let us know what you think!
> >
> > http://www.resara.org
> >
> >
>
> --
> Av8 Internet   Prepared to pay a premium for better service?
> www.av8.net         faster, more reliable, better service
> 617 256 5494
>
>
>


-- 
Warren Luebkeman
Partner, COO
Resara LLC
888.357.9195
www.resara.com
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