TAG | Linux alternatives to Windows SBS part two |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Thursday, 25 September 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 5 ZimbraZimbra has a funny name but a well regarded one. Zimbra’s flagship product – Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 (ZCS) – is a modern messaging and collaboration application. Featured Whitepaper
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Although Zimbra is not bundled with any specific Linux distribution this is no problem; it is a straightforward matter to load it on top of any existing installation. The base Linux component will cater for the file- and print-sharing, and domain authentication, requirements while Zimbra covers the groupware requirements. In fact, Zimbra really does its part well. It will work with Microsoft Outlook (in the Professional edition only), but also provides its own feature-rich webmail system and an offline desktop client which is as snappy as a crocodile that's just been smiled at. Support for both Activesync and BlackBerry have been provided, meaning you can connect any of a raft of mobile devices to your system for remote working. This includes BlackBerry handhelds, of course, but also any Windows Mobile phone or even the iPhone, because these use ActiveSync for over-the-air mail and calendar and contact synchronisation. The consumer and e-mail editions of Zimbra are available free of charge. Paid support can be picked up, at an annual rate. Two retail versions of Zimbra exist, which compare extremely well to SBS. The standard edition begins at $25/user/year for up to 25 seats and 50 or more seats begin at $18/user/year. The professional edition is $10 higher per user. The greatest reason to move away from the standard edition is for the Outlook integration which is only available with the professional edition. The greatest reason to move from the free, open source, edition to the standard edition is to unlock clustering and high availability options, online backups and restores and to rebrand the product if that is important to you. Zimbra is a flexible and very friendly product. Your users will love it. Besides making a tremendous Exchange replacement it offers great new features of its own within the Zimbra mail clients such as “conversation view” which pieces together the flow of e-mails within the same conversation, stripping out all the other clutter that you’d ordinarily see in your inbox or in other folders. Page one – introduction Page two – Zimbra Page three – Open-Xchange Page four – Zarafa Page five – Kerio and reader feedback |
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