Thursday, January 18, 2007

BrainShare 2007

Novell has released the preliminary agenda for BrainShare 2007. The most interesting sessions related to Active Directory I can find are listed below. There are lots of other session related to identity management and security, of course. My big interest is to see what will be discussed at BrainShare that relates to the Microsoft and Novell announcement from earlier this year. I wonder if any Microsoft executives will be presenting?? That would certainly go a long way to showing how real the deal is!!

Microsoft and Novell will undertake work to make it easier for customers to manage mixed Windows and SUSE Linux Enterprise environments and to make it easier for customers to federate Microsoft Active Directory® with Novell eDirectory.

My quick scan of the session titles and abstracts highlighted a number of interesting sessions which I've listed below. I think if I was still at Microsoft I'd be planning on attending...

Interoperability with Microsoft Windows and Active Directory There are several open source and closed source initiatives underway to have better interoperability and co-existence with Microsoft Windows and Active Directory environments. Come to this Birds-of-a-Feather session to learn more about what others are doing to save money by deploying Linux-based solutions that either emulate or work with existing deployments. You will learn what others are doing and what Novell's plans. Bring your ideas and suggestions regarding tools and technologies; protocols and packages; and integration and interoperability.

All Things Samba Join others like you who are interested in learning about, deploying, configuring, managing, running, and improving Samba on Linux. Members of the Samba Team will lead the discussion. Meet others who make up the Novell Samba Team and share your ideas and stories. Also, bring your Samba-related questions; there will be plenty of answers. Learn and share with others in an open discussion environment.

Smart Card integration into SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Learn how to use smart cards for authentication and authorization on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 from Novell. Find out how to configure local authentication as well as smart card-based authentication to Microsoft Active Directory and Novell eDirectory.

Learning to Live With Microsoft Without Turning Blue There are several open- and closed-source initiatives underway that are striving for better interoperability and co-existence with Microsoft Windows and Active Directory environments. Learn best practices for deploying Linux-based solutions that either emulate or work with existing deployments by examining tools and technologies; protocols and packages; and integration and interoperabilty.

Advanced SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Deployment and Customization To deploy Linux desktops in today's enterprise environment you must understand how Linux works within your existing infrastructure, how Linux desktops can be managed, and how existing corporate policies and lockdowns may be applied. This session explores the concepts, methods and tools used to deploy and customize the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED). We show you how to integrate Linux into Active Directory or eDirectory environments, how to lockdown the desktop, how to customize Firefox, how to deploy thin clients and how to deploy Linux desktops with scripting and imaging.

I'm going to keep an eye on developments for BrainShare 2007. Who knows, maybe this year I'll go. It's been a few years and as I said in a previous post, Nick Nikols is back.

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