Operating a Mixed Environment

For many companies, a migrated application operates in a live environment containing a mixture of UNIX and Windows systems. Such companies need some interoperation between the two operating systems. To some extent, interoperationis also required where Interix and Windows systems coexist.

The main areas that you will need to address in mixed environments are:

• Windows to UNIX connectivity

• User authentication and authorization

• Resource and data sharing

The solutions available to you are discussed in Chapter 6, UNIX and Windows Interoperability.

Windows to UNIX Connectivity

In a mixed live environment in which users and support staff access applications running on Windows and UNIX, you will require tools to connect between the operating systems. Usually, you will have the client software on the Windows desktops provide character or graphical (X Windows) access to UNIX applications.

For more information about the options available to you, see Chapter 6, Unix and Windows Interoperability.

User Authentication and Authorization

In a heterogeneous environment, users and administrators benefit by having a common authentication system and a single username and password pair acrossall operating systems. The options are covered in Chapter 6, Unix and Windows Interoperability. The Microsoft Services for UNIX, Network Information System (NIS) Server (called Server for NIS ) makes it possible to create a single user database. When this feature is coupled with the Microsoft Services for UNIX Password Synchronization tools, you can give users single usernames and passwords across UNIX and Windows systems.

Resource and Data Sharing

Chapter 6 also covers the various techniques and software available that enableyou to share file systems and data between Windows and UNIX systems. In the live environment, you want to hide the differences between the two systems from the end users.

You can effectively achieve resource and data sharing by using Samba on UNIX systems and by using Network File System (NFS) on Windows systems. These options are fully covered in Chapter 6.