<br>Here is my 2 cents! :) Take from it what you will...<br><br>In my opinion, distro does matter.. (Sorry Richard!!) and it matters because of<br>support and what you enjoy working with. Working in IT, and supporting IT means <br>
you know what it feels like when things are not working and you are the choke <br>point... when you have a problem with a system you want to be able to rely on <br>someone else for support, for expertise, for "just-making-it-work" when you're too<br>
tired, too confused or whatever. So, I would go with a hardware vendor who has <br>dedicated linux support and releases linux drivers and documentation etc. .. so <br>maybe that's IBM or HP... I'm not so certain of Dell's support. Then you want<br>
to go with a distro whose tools you like working with - check out RedHat/SuSe/Ubuntu's<br>tools for managing their servers and services. Is there a GUI version?, do you need <br>a GUI version? [Will anyone else be doing some day-to-day management if you are<br>
absent - training/sick]. Are those tools comprehensive, efficient and easy to use? Is<br>there a separate tool for everything (like M$). What's patching like? How do you<br>determine what's patched? And finally, what is their support like? Do you want to call <br>
them directly or call a local reseller/vendor who will support their platform(s)? The<br>decisions you make here will impact you. These decisions will determine how well <br>your implementation will go, especially if you are new or inexperienced with Linux and <br>
the new software you'll be rolling out. Thankfully, if everything is set up correctly at <br>first you'll likely have far fewer issues maintaining and supporting everything after the<br>fact than you _ever_ did with Microsoft! :) <br>
<br>I believe OpenXchange is an option with regard to replacing Exchange. I also<br>believe there are other options if you want your clients/staff to continue to run Outlook<br>in the short term. This might be the easiest solution ... leaving the workstations as-is<br>
as much as possible for now.. running XP and Office and later on, in a second phase<br>of implementation, migrate email and users to Open Office. <br><br>If your clients/staff need Terminal Services to authenticate remotely, I don't know if <br>
there are Linux options. CALs for Terminal Services are expensive if I recall correctly.<br>Anyone??<br><br>As John mentioned, nearly everything else can be migrated to Linux...<span><font face="Arial" size="2">DHCP, DNS, <br>
PDC, File/Print/Fax services, Email, Security, Backup, </font></span>and AV, Web Hosting etc.<br><br>And as Khalid suggested, you need to do the math and prove to management what they<br>will save and how... because there will likely be some pain from end users and others<br>
who don't want change or or frustrated by the changes and won't understand why<br>you are changing away from something as glorious as Microsoft. :) For example you<br>could look at patching... and patch Tuesday. Patching Linux is generally completely<br>
painless and you don't need to reboot unless you're patching the kernel (even then, there<br>are ways to eliminate that if you wish .. the old security/usability arguments apply however).<br>I think many, many good arguments can be made for the architecture of the solution,<br>
it just needs to be quantified to management - in terms they can appreciate... i.e. easier<br>to troubleshoot, less maintenance, patching is not disruptive/better uptime, more stable<br>and reliable, better performance on the same hardware, easy to remote into and fix,<br>
secure. :)<br><br>One other thing you might want to consider if you're replacing hardware is virtualization...<br>if you get a robust enough piece of hardware you could run multiple servers doing<br>discrete tasks on one machine... better utilizing drive space, cpu and so on. As well,<br>
some vendors offer linux appliances which are optimized for that one app and are<br>pretty much turnkey solutions.<br><br>Good Luck! It sounds like a fun and exciting project!!<br><br>Oksana<br><br><br>
<div><span></span> <br></div><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Bill Hazelwood</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bhazelwood@delta-elevator.com" target="_blank">bhazelwood@delta-elevator.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:10 AM<br>Subject: [kwlug-disc] Best Server Distribution??<br>To: <a href="mailto:kwlug-disc@kwlug.org" target="_blank">kwlug-disc@kwlug.org</a><br><br><br>
<div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">Good
morning,</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">In spirit of the
recent post on what would be the best desktop distribution, I would like to ask
the same question for servers, but first a little background. I appolise, but
this is going to be long winded.</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">I am the 'IT guy'
for an elevator manufacturer in Kitchener. I use the IT term loosely as I have
no formal training, I am 100% 'home-grown'. I solve problems the hard way
(lots of head scratchin' and bangin') and if that does not work, I am
on the phone to Microsoft. I have been ITing for 10 yrs and I hold Microsoft
wholely responsible for my hairloss and premature greying.
LOL!!!</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">We are currently
running Microsoft's SBS 2003 server suite and we are looking to upgrade. I
naturally looked to Microsoft for my next headache... I mean solution. After
all, once you become a sheep, what else can you do??? This is where the problem
begins, upgrading to Big Mic's newest offering is going to cost the company
close to $50k in hardware and software (<span><font face="Arial" size="2">We have 40 desktops, 2 remote offices and 40 mobile/PDA
users.</font></span></font><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><span>)</span>. Ouch??? Are they kidding, who can afford
that??? What am I to do, the bosses are not going to be happy with that request.
So, I started looking for alternatives.</font></font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">I found many stories
of users with Linux machines that just work. No problems, no worries and best of
all, no costs. The years of Microsoft abuse has left me very skeptical. Is this
possible? Can servers just work? Is it possible to have a 'lights out' server
room? </font></span><span><font face="Arial" size="2">For
the most part, I am a Linux blank slate. I spent a bit of time with QNX about
15yrs ago and I am an original DOS guy. I am no stranger to the command
line, however I am quite rusty for sure. </font></span><span><font face="Arial" size="2">So, where does that leave
me???</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">I have grand plans
and I am looking for direction on how to get there. What distro do I use? I have
been given the OK to take some training courses and have looked at Red Hat and
Ubuntu. If I trained in Red Hat and later used Ubuntu (or something else) would
the training be a waste? I understand that there will be a steep learning curve
and that I will need to purchase support, but I figure that in the end I will be
better off.</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">Here are some
details;</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">- Continue to run
WinXP as the desktop OS for the users</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">- Need Microsoft SQL
Server</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">- Need (I
think) Microsoft Server for other Server applications (AutoCAD, Alarm
System, Terminal Server for remote offices, Desktop Antivirus
server)</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">- DHCP, DNS, PDC,
File, Email, Security, Backup, Print and Fax servers to be some flavour of
Linux</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">Thank-you to all for
any support you can give.</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">Best
regards,</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2">Bill
Hazelwood</font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div><span><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div></div>
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