R2 makes *NIX Interop Easier - SUA, MSNFS, IdMU

Fabrice has a great post detailing R2 interop features you want to check out first. Here is the interop detail:

R2 also comes with three components designed to simplify Unix/Linux interoperability by letting a Windows system pretend to be a *nix system by donning a variety of masks:

  • Identity Management for Unix (IdMU) lets an AD domain controller pretend to be a Network Information Service (NIS) server for purposes of authentication and authorization (see Figure 4, below).
  • Microsoft Services for Network File System (MSNFS) lets Unix/Linux clients use NFS to mount shared folders on Windows servers. This eliminates the need for configuring Samba and makes file storage more seamless in a distributed environment.
  • Subsystem for Unix-based Applications (SUA) lets you compile and run the source code for a Unix/Linux application natively on a Windows machine without an intervening emulator.
Figure 4. Identity Management for Unix.
Figure 4. Identity Management for Unix lets an AD domain controller pretend to be a Unix server for authorization purposes. (Click image to view larger version.)

All these features are present in Services for Unix, but their capabilities have been enhanced, the interfaces simplified and the underlying system changes brought in line with commonly accepted industry practices.