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The Linux distillery Linux alternatives to Windows SBS part one
The Linux distillery Linux alternatives to Windows SBS part one | Linux alternatives to Windows SBS part one |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Thursday, 18 September 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 4 What I expect out of a reasonable Linux SBS-killer is seamless integration of several specific key items.Featured Whitepaper
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Authentication: the solution must provide a centralised user login mechanism with support for security groups and differing levels of access. File-serving: coupled with the above, the solution must make available network folders which can be accessed from the workstations and build on the authentication mechanism for security. Print-serving: the solution must provide queues for an arbitrary number of printers, which must be accessible from the workstations. Remote working: the solution must provide a facility that allows staff to connect to company resources via their home Internet connection with a minimum of fuss. E-mail: the solution must supply a comprehensive groupware system. It's not sufficient to merely supply POP-capable mailboxes – even IMAP mailboxes. At minimum users must have a shared central address book, calendars and tasks, and the ability to give access to their calendar, mail and tasks to varying degrees. These items must be stored on the server, even if they are also locally cached onto workstations. A web-mail option is pretty important too. In fact, the solution ideally will be usable through Microsoft Outlook. Let's make no mistake: Linux desktops are a viable option but I don't want to go too far too fast. By replacing SBS with a Linux offering we will improve the technical landscape of the business but in a way that imposes no changes to how the staff usually work. Changing the desktop does impact the staff and puts at risk specialised line of business applications which have no Linux equivalent. That's a topic for another time. For now let's get rid of SBS but ensure we do so in a way that meets the baseline I've stipulated. Can it be done? Yes! And here's five of the best. Remember, one today, and four more in part two on Sunday. Page 1 – the baseline Page 2 - What I expect from a Linux solution Page 3 – A word on the money side Page 4 – Option 1: ClarkConnect and reader feedback |
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