This backend provides a rich database backend for local servers. This backend is not suitable for multiple domain controllers (i.e., PDC + one or more BDC) installations.

The tdbsam password backend stores the old smbpasswd information plus the extended MS Windows NT/200x SAM information into a binary format TDB (trivial database) file. The inclusion of the extended information makes it possible for Samba-3 to implement the same account and system access controls that are possible with MS Windows NT4/200x-based systems.

The inclusion of the tdbsam capability is a direct response to user requests to allow simple site operation without the overhead of the complexities of running OpenLDAP. It is recommended to use this only for sites that have fewer than 250 users. For larger sites or implementations, the use of OpenLDAP or of Active Directory integration is strongly recommended.

This provides a rich directory backend for distributed account installation.

Samba-3 has a new and extended LDAP implementation that requires configuration of OpenLDAP with a new format Samba schema. The new format schema file is included in the examples/LDAP directory of the Samba distribution.

The new LDAP implementation significantly expands the control abilities that were possible with prior versions of Samba. It is now possible to specify “per-user” profile settings, home directories, account access controls, and much more. Corporate sites will see that the Samba Team has listened to their requests both for capability and greater scalability.