[OpenAFS] replacing NFS + NIS + SAMBA with AFS

[Pascal DeMilly (OpenAFS)]

I am a little confused about the status of OpenAFS.

I manage a network of around  300 Linux workstations and Windows 2000/XP
PC. Those PC reside on a network divided in 12 different areas
interconnected over Frame relay.

Right now I am running everything over NFS + NIS+ + AUTOFS + SAMBA. All
sites have a small server that holds the user home directory of that
location and sync at night with the main server. 

Some common directories are shared over NFS over wan. The problem is
users are constantly been reassigned to other locations and it is hard
to keep track where they are, therefore a lot of traffic end up being on
the wan.

I have read that OpenAFS would solve that problem. However when reading
the mailing list or reading user comments on the net, I am not so sure I
could gradually and easily move to OpenAFS. I am not even sure I am
looking at the right product for my problem.

This is what I would like to do. On one unused server, create an AFS
cell for all home directories, then move all home directories to it and
in our current autofs change our /home to point to that server /afs ...
This way on the client side I should have nothing else to change. Only
servers will know about AFS.

I could still be running NFS on the clients and Samba on another server.
Now my understanding is that is not possible because of locking,
authentication, etc ...

Looking for comments from  people with similar setup and experience.

Thanks

Pascal