Linking Unix and Windows 2000, the Microsoft way
Brien M Posey
Published: 24 Dec 2002 23:21 GMT
In our interconnected world, it's often necessary to integrate different types of systems. Connecting systems that are completely foreign to each other can be challenging - for example, Windows 2000 and Unix don't always play nice. Let's look at how to use Microsoft's Windows Services for Unix 3.0 to integrate Windows 2000 and Unix in a way that makes them work well together.
Windows Services for Unix 3.0
Windows Services for Unix is a suite of server applications all bundled into a single package. All the applications and components included in the package are designed to help you to integrate Windows into your existing Unix environment, or Unix into your Windows 2000 system.
Windows Services for Unix has been around for a while, having begun life as a product from Softway, a company acquired by Microsoft. Version 3.0 is a recent release. The biggest difference between 3.0 and the previous version is that the Microsoft Interix subsystem, which allows you to run both Windows and Unix applications on a single machine, has been fully integrated.
Basically, Interix provides a true Unix environment that runs on top of a Windows kernel. This means that Unix applications and scripts can run alongside Windows applications and scripts. The great thing about this is that if your company previously used Unix and is migrating to Windows, your existing applications can run on the new Windows servers without being recoded from scratch.
In addition to the Interix environment, Windows Services for Unix also includes a software development kit (SDK) that supports some 1,900 common Unix migration tools and APIs. To top things off, Windows Services for Unix also includes 300 Unix tools designed to function exactly as they would on a true Unix machine. Some of these tools are the GCC, G++, and G77 compilers, as well as RCS, MAKE, YACC, LEX, C89, CC, NM, GDB, and STRIP. Some other tools included are AWK, GREP, SED, TR, CUT, TAR, and CPIO.
In addition to Interix, the SDK, and all the Unix tools, Windows Services for Unix also includes many other major components, which we'll discuss in the following sections.
NFS
NFS is the Unix file system, which Windows doesn't natively support. This means that if a Windows client wants to access files and other resources from a Unix server, the Windows machine will need to be made NFS-aware. Windows Services for Unix provides three different components for accomplishing this task:
- Client for NFS: The first of the NFS components is the Client for NFS. The NFS client allows Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and XP workstations (or servers) to access an NFS share point. There really isn't a whole lot to the NFS client. It's similar to the client for NetWare Networks in that it allows a client to authenticate into, and access files from, a foreign file system.
- Server for NFS: The Server for NFS works in the opposite direction as the Client for NFS; it allows a Windows NT 4.0 or a Windows 2000 Server to emulate a Unix server. Unix workstations are able to attach to the Windows server in a way that makes the Windows server appear to be a Unix server. This means that both Windows and Unix clients can access a share point on a Windows server simultaneously.
- Gateway for NFS: The Gateway for NFS option is a great way to make Unix resources available to Windows users who are unfamiliar with Unix. It lets a Windows NT or 2000 server act as a Unix client that is capable of accessing a predetermined set of resources. The Windows server then reshares those resources with the Windows clients.
When you create a share point with Gateway for NFS, Windows users access the share point on the Windows server in the usual manner (using the SMB protocol). Although the files that the Windows workstations access appear to be on the Windows server, they are actually on a Unix machine. If a Windows workstation requests a file, the Windows server retrieves the file from the Unix machine and passes it to the Windows workstation.
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