Here is part 2 of the article. To read part 1, Click Here

Resource Usage

There are many ways both systems can communicate, share data and print across the network but one thing they both have in common is the smb protocol. This protocol is easily set up by both operating systems and printers and directories can be easily shared. I would suggest however that clients not be allowed to open up shares freely as that creates a security risk. By connecting the computers to active directory (both Linux and windows) you can centrally set rights for shared directories in both operating systems. Personally I believe a dedicated file server and no shares allowed on clients is more secure, easily administrated and better for backup activities. Setting up printers and sharing them is very easily done for both operating systems and is just a point and click affair for the eye candy aficionado's. For the power guru's your favourite text editor (vi or Emacs) is great for Linux but unfortunately you are stuck with point and click for windows.

Program Updates.

With both operating systems there is a need from time to time to update the installed programs to guard against security breaches or random crashes. Fortunately both operating systems make that easy for you in that they can automatically connect to the internet and get their updates direct from the provider. For the network having several hundred clients all connecting to the internet at once and trying to download tens or hundreds of megabytes of patches is a recipe for a call to the bosses office. There is a solution. Both operating systems can be set up to get their updates from a local repository which reduces internet traffic and gives you control over what updates or patches to apply. For Linux it is as simple as setting up a directory as a local repository and directing the update client to feed from that. Windows has a free program called wsus which does the same thing.

Remote Administration.

I have already commented on remote administration here But I didn't go into too much detail about the programs you can use. I will list some roughly equivalent programs for Linux and windows. For Linux there is ssh but windows is stuck with telnet which I don't recommend. For remote viewing of the clients desktop both operating systems can use vnc but windows has a cool program called gencontrol which is based on vnc. For a remote graphical login you can port forward X over ssh or log into the xdmcp service for Linux and remote desktop for windows. Linux can connect to windows using remote desktop, telnet, vnc or xdmcp (if you install a free xserver on windows). Windows can connect to Linux via ssh(putty), telnet(not recommended), vnc or xdmcp (with the free xserver). To see what machines are on the network there is smb4k for Linux and its rough equivalent netscan for windows. There are many, many other programs and each administrator has their favourites so if you don't like these then ask google and you will get the wisdom of advertisement driven results.

So you can see there are many ways in which both operating systems can co-exist and be easily administrated. Both operating systems can be centrally managed with configuration changes, updates and program installation all managed from one central terminal it doesn't matter what operating system that terminal uses. In fact the only reason you should need to get out of your chair is for a hardware problem like an exploding monitor