Any computer system overhaul should take the existing system into account. This allows reuse of available resources as much as possible, and it guarantees interoperability of the various elements comprising the system. This study will introduce a generic framework to follow in any migration of a computing infrastructure to Linux.
3.1. Samexistens i heterogena miljöer
Debian integerar väl i alla typer av existerande miljöer och fungerar väl med andra operativsystem. Denna nästan perfekta harmoni kommer från marknadstryck som kräver att upphovsmän till programvaror utvecklar program som följer standarder. Överrensstämmelse med standarder låter administratörer byta ut program: klienter eller servrar, oavsett om de är fria eller ej.
3.1.1. Integration med Windows-maskiner
Samba's SMB/CIFS support ensures excellent communication within a Windows context. It shares files and print queues to Windows clients and includes software that allows a Linux machine to use resources available on Windows servers.
3.1.2. Integration with macOS machines
macOS machines provide, and are able to use, network services such as file servers and printer sharing. These services are published on the local network, which allows other machines to discover them and make use of them without any manual configuration, using the Bonjour implementation of the Zeroconf protocol suite. Debian includes another implementation, called Avahi, which provides the same functionality.
In the other direction, the Netatalk daemon can be used to provide file servers to macOS machines on the network. It implements the AFP protocol (Apple Filing Protocol, now AppleShare) as well as the required notifications so that the servers can be automatically discovered by the macOS clients.
Äldre Mac OS-nätverk (före OS X) använde ett annat protokoll kallat AppleTalk. För miljöer som inkluderar maskiner som använder detta protokoll tillhandahåller Netatalk även AppleTalk-protokollet (faktum är att den började som en omimplementation av det protokollet). Den säkerstället funktioner så som filserver och skrivarköer så väl som tidsserver (klocksynkronisering)l. Dess router-funktion möjliggör sammankoppling med AppleTalk-nätverk.
3.1.3. Integration med andra Linux-/Unix-maskiner
Finally, NFS (Network File System) and NIS (Network Information Service), both included, guarantee interaction with Unix systems. NFS ensures file server functionality, while NIS creates user directories. The BSD printing layer, used by most Unix systems, also allows sharing of print queues.
