[NTLUG:Discuss] NIS capabilities? - noobie

[namit.bhalla at wipro.com]

On 4/9/09, namit.bhalla at wipro.com <namit.bhalla at wipro.com> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>  I am completely new to the concept of NIS and wish to know what all
can
>>  be done using NIS.
>>  >From what I have read so far, NIS can be used to allow any user to
log
>>  on to any client system
>>  on a network by having a central database of the passwd files etc.
>>  I have also read that NIS can be used to "share a common set of
>>  configuration files".
>>  Could someone please clarify what kind of central configuration is
>>  possible using NIS?
>>  How can an admin "control" the users in a domain using NIS? For
>>  instance, in Windows, the
>>  admin can use Active Directory to establish a common date format for
all
>>  clients.

On 4/9/09, Robert Pearson <e2eiod at gmail.com> wrote:
> Not sure what you mean here by "common data format"?

Its "date" format and not "data" :)
I just took a simple example for the purpose.
The basic question was - can I enforce policies using NIS (the way it is
done in AD for Windows)

>>  Can NIS be used for such purposes.
>>
>>  Any pointers would be of great help.
>>  Thanks!
>>

> Here's what Wikipedia says about NIS (and I agree with it):
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Information_Service>

[snipped Wikipedia excerpt]

> [mycomment]
> It is a question of scale.
> Pick your environment:
> Personal Computing
> SOHO - maybe LDAP
> SMB - LDAP (or with) Active Directory
> Enterprise - LDAP, DNS, Other, Active Directory, Identity Management

> There are some new "Identity Management" tools to look at.

> YMMV


You mention Active Directory here. Would you know how exactly that works
in *ix (client?) environments?
Thanks again!

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