[NTLUG:Discuss] Can Linux & win2k co-exist on the same switch?

[Chris Cox]

Kevin of Ward Networks wrote:
>...snip...
> 
> Question:
>
> Can a linux server network with DNS, webs server and mail server co-exist on the same high-speed 
> ethernet switch behind a sonicwall pro firewall without
> interfering with 3 domain controllers on the Win2k Active Directory network structure - I would expect 

Yes.  Not a problem.

>...snip...
> If someone has good information on this
> subject, it would be greatly appreciated... We would love to get away from the MS money machine but it 
> is an infrastructure we know that works well and is
> very stable.  We have dedicated a significant portion of our resources to obtain the necessary 
> equipment and we are highly motivated to build an advanced
> Linux Network but we want to stay on the same switches for firewall protection ~  is this going to 
> cause problems with Windows DNS services ??

There is no problem running multiple DNS servers.  There are some issues between
BIND
and Windows DNS if you are wanting to setup a master<->slave relationship
between the
servers.  If they are independent, no issues at all.  You might want to make
sure
that the Linux BIND DNS does not perform updates at the request of the Windows
network though (let the Windows DNS handle all of that for now).

Moving forward, it sounds like you are considering a mass migration of services
possibly to Linux.  I recommend that you get some training and at least setup
a test network to practice on.  You would not want a Windows newbie to
administer your Windows network... you certainly do not want a Linux newbie
to administer a Linux network.  Unfortunately, there a million-and-one ways
to integrate Linux and Windows together on a network (so that they work
in harmony with each other)... and it is pretty easy to get what I would
consider "bad advice" off of the internet in this regard... be cautious.

If you have some specific question, feel free to post here, I'm sure there are
many in the group that can share their experiences with what works and doesn't
work in the realm of Windows-Unix integration.

Regards,
Chris