On Wed, 2006-06-21 at 00:15 -0300, Fernando Lozano wrote:
> Both, because I don't think NIS is complex or visible enough to get an 
> exam of its own.

Forget focusing on "only NIS."  It's 25 years-old.  It's _little_
different than local UNIX files.  It's already covered in LPIC-1/2.  It
would be covered in basic local UNIX authentication/file questions
anyway.  It's not NIS that is a consideration.  It's legacy interfaces
that NIS used to provide that are still a consideration.

E.g., automounter maps.  Things that any _must_ be available on an
enterprise network to tell the rest of the network where resources are.
When I train Windows administrators, I tell them automounter maps are
kinda like publishing SMB shares in the ADS tree.

Things like the automounter are reasons why I think some people aren't
looking at the "bigger picture" here.  Especially when you start talking
about _multiple_ Linux servers.  And automounter maps are _crucial_ for
not only UNIX/Linux clients, but inter-server file transfer.

As such, these concepts should be addressed in an auth/dir/name (for the
network resource maps/objects) and file service (for the actual
automounter/system details) exams.  You might service SMB, but it does
not mean you won't have Linux server to Linux server file transfer or
other support issues.

> But maybe NFS would need one, I don't know if it could 
> be folded into the "core" exam together with Kerberos.

NFS is _little_ different than filesystem concepts -- including advanced
EAs/ACLs.  When you cover advanced EAs/ACLs, you're basically covering
NFS v3/v4 now.  The only other detail is the user space deamons, which
are largely for mapping and consistency across an enterprise (including
to Samba).  That's why I said, and continue to re-iterate, that when you
cover advanced filesystem concepts for Samba, you're already covering
75-80% of NFS already.

Again, we should not be cover and recovering the same, advanced network
filesystem concepts in different exams for Samba, NFS, etc... --
especially for inter-server communication and published resource lists.
They are so redundant and overlapping between them that they are *NOT*
"Windows client-only" or "UNIX/Linux client-only" concepts.

THE "REAL WORLD" ...

I often go into a Windows client-only network and see "hard" SMBfs (or
NFS) mounts between Linux servers (let alone NFS without any serious
authentication).  I also often see misconfigured Samba
shares/permissions that _bypass_ the UNIX/Linux filesystem-level
security too.  These concepts are typically "basic knowledge" when it
comes to proper UNIX/Linux administration.  Yet people like yourself go,
"oh, that's not Samba, so I don't care about that."

SO, AGAIN I ASK ...

How do you do inter-server object synchronization and file sharing in an
enterprise -- even if your servers are 100% Linux and clients are 100%
Windows?  I'd really like to know.  If it's the mess of "hard mounts"
and "local authentication and/or broadcast" (especially across multiple
subnets), then you've really made my point for me.  ;->

> May I insist there should be three exams to start with? Because If we 
> start with only two and two are required, people will understand the two 
> initial exams *are* LPIC-3 and will get confused when we add new exams 
> without creating a new cetificaton level or brand.

The exams will eventually be partitioned and labeled.  Don't get caught
up on it now.  If the tasks show the need for a 3rd focus, it will be
done.  I just don't want to see "strict separation" of what you think is
"not necessary" for maintaining Linux servers.

There are a lot of "Samba-only" administrators out thereusing SMBfs/NFS
hard-links between servers, maintaining a heavy reliance on broadcast
and a single WINS server (across multiple subnets/offices) for
naming/resource location, etc...  Teaching them the first thing about
_basic_ object naming across multiple subnets (WINS ain't it, especially
not with nmbd's limitations today), and how to properly use the native
UNIX/Linux facilities for automounting other servers (and maintaining
basic automounter maps across the network) is _crucial_ to maintaining
multiple Samba servers in an enterprise.

Even if the clients are 100% Windows.

-- 
Bryan J. Smith           Professional, technical annoyance
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]     http://thebs413.blogspot.com
----------------------------------------------------------
The existence of Linux has far more to do with the breakup
of AT&T's monopoly than anything Microsoft has ever done.


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