HP CIFS Server 3.0a Administrator's Guide version A.02.01

HP CIFS Deployment Models
Samba Domain Model
Chapter 11188
Samba Domain Model
You can use the Samba Domain Deployment Model in environments with
the following characteristics:
• A domain consisting of HP CIFS Servers and no Windows domain
controllers.
• Support for any number of UNIX servers that provide file and print
services for corresponding numbers of users.
• An HP CIFS server is configured as a Primary Domain Controller
(PDC). One or more HP CIFS Servers act as Backup Domain
Controllers (BDCs).
• The PDC and BDCs use the LDAP backend to consolidate common
Posix and Windows accounts on the LDAP directory. It requires
LDAP-UX Integration software for larger deployments.
• Access to an LDAP-UX Netscape Directory Server as the backend
storage for larger deployments.
The Samba Domain Model provides the following benefits:
• It can be expanded easily.
• The HP CIFS Server acting as a BDC can pick up network logon
requests and authenticate users while the PDC is busy on the
network. The BDC can be promoted to a PDC if the PDC needs to be
taken out of services or fails. The PDC-BDC model provides
authentication load balancing for larger networks.
• The PDC, BDCs, and domain member servers store account
databases in the LDAP directory to centralize administration
regardless of network size.