Microsoft® Windows Server 2003: Administrator’s Companion

Permissions and Security Concepts

One of the most important and pervasive differences between Windows Server 2003 and UNIX is the manner in which they handle permissions and security. These differences are subtle and frequently lead the unwary to make false assumptions. Because Chapter 20 and Chapter 21 have already explained in great detail how Windows Server 2003 handles security, we’ll spare you here, but if you’re going to coexist with UNIX servers, you need to understand how UNIX handles security to avoid problems. Let’s look at a UNIX file listing first, and then examine symbolic links, privilege levels, and permissions.

A UNIX File Listing

A UNIX file listing might look something like this:

 -rwxr-x—x 2 charlie dba 2579 Aug 30 15:49 ...