Almost certainly, your Linux devices will not be running autonomously, and other operating systems will co-exist with them. No matter where your infrastructure is located, the likelihood is that you will need to interoperate with Windows systems at the very least. This is true just as much in the home environment as it's in the enterprise. Considering the home market, how many people do you know that use Windows desktops and have a Linux server as a central file store. Remember that the Linux server may be embedded into Network Attached Storage (NAS), a device that you bought from the high street. Within enterprises, large and small, Microsoft's Active Directory is a very prevalent identity store that shares user accounts across a range of systems.

To help integrate RHEL 7 into your Windows environment, we will use this chapter to provide you with the basics on the following topics: