Active Directory Integration for Storage Systems
Leverage Active Directory to centrally manage access to Linux, UNIX and Mac file shares
In a mixed environment where both Windows and UNIX users need to access common files or directories, there is a need for a common security model to control access. Centrify provides solutions for centrally managing access to storage systems via Active Directory.
For Samba, a popular open source version of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol for UNIX and Linux, Centrify provides an enhanced version that has been recompiled to work seamlessly on a Centrify-managed system.
- Learn More: Centrify-Enabled Samba
For third-party commercial storage systems, Centrify provides the following application notes that demonstrate how to configure those systems to work correctly with Centrify-managed systems:
- Application Note: Automounted UNIX Home Directories
- Application Note: Centralized Mac Home Directories with ExtremeZ-IP
- Application Note: EMC Celerra Network Server
- Application Note: Microsoft Services for NFS
- Application Note: Network Appliance (NetApp) Filers
And when RIM calculated ROI for an internally developed application [to authenticate Red Hat, Solaris and HP systems through Active Directory], systems architect Ian Brown said it became evident that it would be too challenging and expensive. What RIM needed, he decided, was a third-party application that worked out of the box. He said they found it in Mountain View, Calif.-based Centrify Corp.'s DirectControl. "Obviously RIM is a publicly traded company, so when the SOX auditors were looking at the access control to our systems, [we] were already covered with Centrify," Brown said. "Essentially, we could just print off a DirectControl report and say these people had access to this Linux system and when." With DirectControl, Brown could instantaneously produce this login documentation. He could then correlate that information to any maintenance ticket ever generated at RIM. Before DirectControl, Brown estimated his staff of six spent dozens of hours each week on local server administration - work they now complete in seconds.
Jack Loftus
SearchEnterpriseLinux
March 20, 2007