Re: What exactly does "backend" mean?

[David Wright <ichbin@shadlen.org>]

> OK, so I've configured an OpenLDAP server and 3 clients.  I've seen 
> references to useing different "backends".  This would seem to imply 
> that one could first install an LDAP server and use, for example, MySQL 
> as a backend
> then, fire up MySQL and do SQL based searches on the database.  If this 
> is correct, it would be most useful.

That would be a "frontend". Backends are the places that OpenLDAP can 
store data. These include embeded databases (the standard ldbm) and 
relational databases (i.e. SQL-driven databases). But whatever the 
backend, the data is accessed via LDAP. That's why you deployed an LDAP 
server, yes?

> Also can anyone point me at a good tutorial for authenticateing Win2K 
> and WinXP clients off of OpenLDAP?
> Can this even be done?  My research to date suggests that it cannot. 
> Toss me a bone here. ;)

It can be done. Basically you set up Samba as a PDC and tell it to store 
passwords in OpenLDAP. This should not be your first project, though. If 
you insist on doing it yourself, follow these steps:
  1) Set up OpenLDAP.
  2) Get a linux machine authenticating off it.
  3) Get a Samba server authenticating off it.
  4) Get up the Samba server as a PDC.
If you don't insist, hire someone like me. I do stuff like this for a 
living.