Can a Linux provide authentication for Windows clients

[gkopko]

I would like to setup a group (5) of Windows PC's to authenticate to a Linux server much like they would to a Windows Domain. There are a couple of apps that have to run on Windows XP.

I would have running on the server DHCP, DNS, File and Print services (SAMBA) , mail and possibly FTP.

Which Linux distribution should I use, I am looking for ease of management? Is there good backup software built into most distributions? I plan on using HP server hardware to build this on, can that affect which distribution to use?

Is there anything else I should consider?

TIA

Gary

[ynilesh]

Yes there are plenty of methods you can authenticate you windows hosts through linux system. Everyserver has there own authentication method like if you have planned to use samba server it has it own authentication. FTP and mail server use's system users password mechanism.

But you can set centralized authentication with the help of NIS or LDAP. LDAP is more powerful than NIS. You need to set password for every server it will be common to all if you set in LDAP.

And if you have planned to purchase HP hardware you can go for HP-UX. There are plenty of free distributions which can act as dedicated server. like,
centos.org
fedora.org
ubuntu.com
opensolaris.com
etc.

- nilesh

[gkopko]

Thanks for the insight. So using LDAP in conjunction with SAMBA would provide a central login point for Windows clients, is this correct?

Thanks

Gary