Ask Slashdot: Is Samba4 a Viable Alternative To Active Directory?

First time accepted submitter BluPhenix316 writes "I'm currently in school for Network Administration. I was discussing Linux with my instructor and he said the problem he has with Linux is he doesn't know of a good alternative to Active Directory. I did some research and from what I've read Samba4 seems very promising. What are your thoughts?"

Comments

Re:for-profit schools

[Billly Gates]

U of Michigan has such a program now. Let me tell yo the kids out of there knew more than the 35 year olds!

Computer science is worthless in comparison. Sure everyone older learned on the job knows his or her own speciality but the kids coming out of these admin programs know every nook and cranny of AD. Not just how to do a task, but actually how it works. Not wasting time with calculus where it is not used on the job.

I probably will get modded down from the CS grads on this but I wish more universities would start this. As a result my opinion is changed and if I were hiring an entry level 23 year old out of school I would prefer the Network admin degree over the CS one if I needed help managing an enterprise.

Typical Instructor

[Murdoch5]

Samba 4 is an EXCELLENT replacement for Active Directory. Any first year IT / Networking student should be able to configure a complete domain controller and master PC using Samba. In many cases Samba out preforms Active Directory on Windows. Samba uses less resources, less over head and that all get returned in speed. Infact the only case where I would consider using Windows Server in place of a Linux Server is if I could only hire grade 10 IT nerds who have no idea what there doing. If you want a server you want Linux, Windows is for people who want to show off there GUI instead of getting work done.