|
|
Heterogeneous Network Authentication Introduction
The purpose of this site is to help others who are interested in implementing a similar setup as to what we have done at Dixie State College, located in St. George Utah. Our system allows us to maintain control and security over the departmental network, as well as allow easier, more streamlined use for the students.
Students use the same login name and password for all machines in the department, whether it be a Mac, Windows 2000, or Linux client. The same account allows access to the general Departmental lab, the upper division lab, as well as the classroom computers. Furthermore, all settings the student makes on their account follow them around. It really does give the students a feeling that they have their own personal machine, and everything stays unique to their setup no matter which computer they sit down at.
We have implemented many other features to work along with this system, including the automatic serving of web pages found in the students public_html folder, the enabling of php and mysql access, and many other advanced features. The goal of this site is to go step by step through the entire process you would need to do to create your own heterogeneous network authentication system.
Keep in mind that this is not a novice level system. You must have a good understanding of and feel comfortable working in a command line Linux system, as well as a good understanding of Mac OS X and Windows 2000. It also takes a lot of work and time to get a fully functional system, and it can become VERY frustrating at times.
To reach the goal of supporting all three major platforms with one system, we have used LDAP, NFS, and SAMBA to create our server cluster.
We will go through the following steps to set up our system:
If you are serious about attempting to create this system, I would suggest taking some time to make yourself familiar with each of the software packages we are using if you are not already. Then take some time and plan what you need.
When you are ready to begin, I would recommend creating an ENTIRE working system on TEST servers only. Try it all out and make sure it all works how you want. Then, when you are convinced you know what you are doing and it all works, set up the real servers. This gives you a good clean install when you know what you are doing. I would plan on spending a MINIMUM of one week on the system. Probably a bit more. Good luck!
|
