[ale] Authentication solution for Linux/Windoze environment

[John V. Harding]

Greetings,
I currently manage a small (~40 nodes) Linux network in an engineering 
environment. We also have a Windows network with about the same amount 
of nodes. I currently use an NIS server running on Redhat 8 for Linux 
and Windows Domain Controller for the windows network and bridge the gap 
with Samba for file sharing

Can anyone suggest an authentication solution that can handle both 
networks with minimum maintenance overhead? I prefer a Linux/open source 
solution but would also entertain an appliance solution. There is also a 
need to include a remote mirrored system for a branch office. A Windows 
based Domain controller has been recommended but it does not seem to 
support RHEL 4 well (or my Windows Admin does not know how to implement it).

Thanks for any suggestions,

-- 
--John V. Harding