Final Thoughts

Network integration is straightforward at the most basic level. Windows and Linux boxes certainly have no trouble pinging each other or sending each other simple DNS queries. But when we want to go deeper, things get more challenging.

In this chapter we tackled four major network integration tasks . First, we convinced Windows Active Directory to use a Linux-based DNS server as its primary DNS server. Second, we configured a Linux-based DNS server as a "slave" DNS server for a branch office, preventing unnecessary round trips over a slow WAN link. Third, we convinced Active Directory to trust a Samba domain, allowing users to log into Windows workstations with either set of credentials. Finally, we built a Windows-hosted VPN with support for both Windows and Linux clients using either Active Directory or Samba credentials to log on. In addition, although space does not allow us to include it in this book, on our website, we also present a solution based on OpenVPN, a Linux VPN package. Again, check out www.winlinanswers.com .

When we go the extra mile, we can achieve great things with our cross-platform networks.