Newbie: Windows NT server, Linux and Koha
Hello to all members of the group! I have been visiting the Koha site for some weeks now, reading the Wiki etc. to get more or less an idea of how it works, being a network newbie. I´m doing an internship in a big organization and right now we are searching for a system to organize our small library containing some 3000 books, growing about 100 titles a month. Koha seems to be the perfect solution in flexibility, TCO and "sympathy". My problem in convincing the people to give it a try is that all the systems in the organization work windows-based, the server on Win NT, and I do not have enough network knowledge to be able to discuss the topic with the Admin. So, here´s my question: I have right now two different solutions in mind for getting started with Koha in our office - does any of those work or do you have another idea? 1. Get a new PC, install - let´s say - Fedora Core, install Apache, Perl, PHP and Koha. Connect this system to the Windows NT server and be able to provide access to Koha to all 50 workstations of the office. There is no need to provide public access (yet), so I think the system has not be the latest server hardware, but a normal workstation would do. But: is it possible to connect the Linux PC to the Windows NT server and enable it to be accesible for ALL Windows workstations of the office?!? 2. Install Koha on Windows, as described in the manual. Z39.50 would not work as I understand it, but I think we could live without it. I would PREFER the first solution, just to let the NT server untouched. Would this work? I appreciate very much every thought on this topic; if anyone has a good weblink for a NT/Linux-network introduction I would be grateful as well. Thanks a lot and keep up the cool work! :)) Fabian
Hi Fabian, Fabian Kruse wrote:
Hello to all members of the group!
I have been visiting the Koha site for some weeks now, reading the Wiki etc. to get more or less an idea of how it works, being a network newbie. I´m doing an internship in a big organization and right now we are searching for a system to organize our small library containing some 3000 books, growing about 100 titles a month. Koha seems to be the perfect solution in flexibility, TCO and "sympathy".
My problem in convincing the people to give it a try is that all the systems in the organization work windows-based, the server on Win NT, and I do not have enough network knowledge to be able to discuss the topic with the Admin.
So, here´s my question: I have right now two different solutions in mind for getting started with Koha in our office - does any of those work or do you have another idea?
1. Get a new PC, install - let´s say - Fedora Core, install Apache, Perl, PHP and Koha. Connect this system to the Windows NT server and be able to provide access to Koha to all 50 workstations of the office. There is no need to provide public access (yet), so I think the system has not be the latest server hardware, but a normal workstation would do. But: is it possible to connect the Linux PC to the Windows NT server and enable it to be accesible for ALL Windows workstations of the office?!?
You do not have to 'connect' the Linux server to the NT server. You would assign the Linux Koha server an IP address and make an entry into the internal DNS so that when people browse to http://library.your.company.name/ they get to the OPAC interface.
2. Install Koha on Windows, as described in the manual. Z39.50 would not work as I understand it, but I think we could live without it.
I would PREFER the first solution, just to let the NT server untouched. Would this work?
I appreciate very much every thought on this topic; if anyone has a good weblink for a NT/Linux-network introduction I would be grateful as well.
The Linux Documentation Project has several HOWTOs on networking for Linux, here is one: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Networking-Overview-HOWTO.html
Thanks a lot and keep up the cool work! :)) Fabian_______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
Greg
Hi Greg, first of all thanks for the fast reply!!
1. Get a new PC, install - let´s say - Fedora Core, install Apache, Perl, PHP and Koha. Connect this system to the Windows NT server and be able to provide access to Koha to all 50 workstations of the office. There is no need to provide public access (yet), so I think the system has not be the latest server hardware, but a normal workstation would do. But: is it possible to connect the Linux PC to the Windows NT server and enable it to be accesible for ALL Windows workstations of the office?!?
You do not have to 'connect' the Linux server to the NT server. You would assign the Linux Koha server an IP address and make an entry into the internal DNS so that when people browse to http:// library.your.company.name/ they get to the OPAC interface.
Okay, but I still will have to integrate the system into the NT network, or am I misuinderstanding something? I think this should work via Samba, or are there any other possibilities? I expect that I won´t be able to connect the Linux server by other means, or are there?
I appreciate very much every thought on this topic; if anyone has a good weblink for a NT/Linux-network introduction I would be grateful as well.
The Linux Documentation Project has several HOWTOs on networking for Linux, here is one: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Networking-Overview-HOWTO.html
Thanks for this great link. Looks very user-friendly, so I will do my homework! Cheers Fabian
Fabian, Fabian Kruse wrote:
Hi Greg,
first of all thanks for the fast reply!!
1. Get a new PC, install - let´s say - Fedora Core, install Apache, Perl, PHP and Koha. Connect this system to the Windows NT server and be able to provide access to Koha to all 50 workstations of the office. There is no need to provide public access (yet), so I think the system has not be the latest server hardware, but a normal workstation would do. But: is it possible to connect the Linux PC to the Windows NT server and enable it to be accesible for ALL Windows workstations of the office?!?
You do not have to 'connect' the Linux server to the NT server. You would assign the Linux Koha server an IP address and make an entry into the internal DNS so that when people browse to http://library.your.company.name/ they get to the OPAC interface.
Okay, but I still will have to integrate the system into the NT network, or am I misuinderstanding something? I think this should work via Samba, or are there any other possibilities? I expect that I won´t be able to connect the Linux server by other means, or are there?
If you mean that you want the host to be part of a Workgroup or Domain, then you will have to use Samba. However unless you are using this host as a workstation (which you shouldn't be) then there isn't really a requirement to do this. However if this host is only going to be used for Koha, then all it will need is an IP address and a DNS entry. For administration, connect to the host with SSH which will give you a command prompt on the host. You will be able to use a web browser on a workstation to visit the OPAC/Intranet webpages.
I appreciate very much every thought on this topic; if anyone has a good weblink for a NT/Linux-network introduction I would be grateful as well.
The Linux Documentation Project has several HOWTOs on networking for Linux, here is one: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Networking-Overview-HOWTO.html
Thanks for this great link. Looks very user-friendly, so I will do my homework!
Have fun! Greg
Fabian Kruse <d0c@gmx.de> writes: > Okay, but I still will have to integrate the system into the NT > network, or am I misuinderstanding something? I think this should > work via Samba, or are there any other possibilities? I expect > that I won´t be able to connect the Linux server by other means, > or are there? The only reason I can think of to set up Samba would be if you wanted to share a printer connected to your linux web server. Even then, Win2k and newer have the ability to print via IPP protocol, so you might not need it at all. The Windows boxes will mainly interact with the Linux server through the HTTP protocol, just like any other web site. If you wanted to put the MySQL database on a Windows server, well, that would complicate things a bit, so don't do it unless you have no choice. For remote access to the Linux server, you can install OpenSSH on it and the free Putty client on the Windows boxes to manage the server from Windows machines. Also, you might want a regular FTP server on the server as well, as long as it was only accessible from a trusted LAN. Other than that, just set up your Linux server and plug it into your network with a static IP address and all the boxes connected to your network should be able to connect to it with a web browser pointed at the the server's name or IP address:Port. Regards, -- Larry Stamm McBride Public Library McBride, BC http://www.mcbridebc.org/library
participants (3)
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Fabian Kruse -
Greg Vickers -
Larry Stamm