UNIX v Win2k

[Sasso, John IT]

Although I'm a UNIX bigot and believe that Internet info services such as
DNS should be run on UNIX boxes, I have to second Barry's point.  Having a
UNIX box with a GUI interface with all the bells 'n' whistles to manage BIND
is not sufficient enough for a non-UNIX (Windows) administrator.  It is not
uncommon to have to do troubleshooting, performance tuning, security, and
other config mgmt of the UNIX box that requires knowledge of the OS itself
and, at times, the internals.  GUIs don't do everything for you!  As one
needs to learn how to crawl before one can walk, one should understand how
to manage a UNIX box at the command-line/text file level before resorting
entirely to GUIs.  

Despite my UNIX slant, I agree with Barry.  If your business does not have
anyone with UNIX experience (and assuming it cannot afford to hire someone
with such experience), then sticking with BIND on a Windows box (or Win2K's
DNS) may be better - for the sake of managing the servers.  

My 2c worth.

	--john


-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Pointer [mailto:sam.pointer at hpdsoftware.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 5:51 AM
To: 'James Gray'; comp-protocols-dns-bind at isc.org
Subject: RE: UNIX v Win2k



 
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

"where a even a Windows user could manage it".

:)

- -----Original Message-----
From: James Gray [mailto:james-spam.sux-gray at ozemail.com.au]
Sent: 13 May 2002 23:16
To: comp-protocols-dns-bind at isc.org
Subject: Re: UNIX v Win2k


"Barry Margolin" wrote...
> Anthony Atkielski wrote:
> >This being so, why are you considering a migration in the first
> >place?  
> >
> >Unless you need server functionality that is _specific_ to Windows
> >2000 
AND
> >you cannot keep both the UNIX system and the Windows 2000 system,
> >why migrate your DNS at all?  No need to fix something that isn't
> >broken! 
>
> What about personnel functionality?  Many sites only have Windows
> system administrators, and no Unix sysadmins.  Legacy Unix servers
> are OK as long as they continue to work, but as soon as they break
> or need to be
modified,
> there's nobody competent to do it.  I've had to talk customers
> through modifying their BIND configurations, and we're lucky if
> they know how to 
us
> "vi" enough to perform the editing.
>
> It may not be broken now, but I think that companies that think
> ahead are being prudent.

Barry raises some good points but I think the day-to-day
administration of a
*nix server can be simplified to the point where a even a Windows
user could
manage it.  There are many web-based GUI tools to manage *nix servers
and
the most mature of these IMHO is Webmin.  It even has a specific DNS
admin
module for managing zones and all that entails.

We are migrating our DNS away from Win2K to *nix with Webmin, and our
IT
department only has two Unix admins (myself and another guy) but most
of the
zones will be administered by a bunch of MCSE's :-)  So far so good.

- --James


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP 7.0.4

iQCVAwUBPODiRLZuYukPoxS2AQFIpgP/S2gZ2O1uiH6V6KkQxB7CP+Vi7P3IrgLA
GON26HGKo9cSVkTkUJzYtPqAzdP2TaSd6BgL7BYTfjX+4ceax+oO104nZVRuIF/o
e30sbZCuI3DNNTXHBhFxl64mT3orYLqxEUhcXz+ydEvzWLhpw31ScLAAi17zEPp3
nIx/WAHiEMk=
=KdXL
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


This email and any attachments are strictly confidential and are intended
solely for the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient you must
not disclose, forward, copy or take any action in reliance on this message
or its attachments. If you have received this email in error please notify
the sender as soon as possible and delete it from your computer systems.
Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of HPD Software Limited or its affiliates.

 At present the integrity of email across the internet cannot be guaranteed
and messages sent via this medium are potentially at risk.  All liability
is excluded to the extent permitted by law for any claims arising as a re-
sult of the use of this medium to transmit information by or to 
HPD Software Limited or its affiliates.