Linux alternatives to Windows SBS part two

David M Williams
Thursday, 25 September 2008 06:10

Opinion and Analysis

Windows Small Business Server is a cut-down version of the Windows Server range of products. Yet, it's not just cut down on price but cut down on features too. It has deliberate built-in limitations. You don't have to put up with this. Here are a range of Linux-based options that give you greater functionality and at a lower price. Give SBS the flick with these products.

I’ve been talking about SBS for the last fortnight. I started with “How Linux is keeping Microsoft honest (and why SBS sucks)” where I argued the advent of Linux has caused Microsoft to rethink certain philosophies and to bolster its range.

As part of this I stated my view that Microsoft has relaxed some limitations on their SBS product in its coming 2008 version because they knew SBS compared poorly to Linux. After all, I can’t believe a Windows shop would opt for SBS over the fuller Windows server range for any reason other than price. Yet Linux offers you solutions at a lesser, or even no, pricetag without having to sacrifice the feature set.

The response was largely positive but yet a number of SBS consultants expressed their dissatisfaction. The comments were insightful; my view that SBS advocates recommended the product based on price was challenged. While true it also came to light that another reason for pushing SBS was that the consultant was complacent with just knowing one product. They were happy if their business did not grow. They were happy to lose customers if the customer got too big. Personally, I find such mediocrity disappointing.

It would be pretty unjust if I left things at this. Putting my money where my mouth is I set off to present five Linux-based alternatives to SBS. Rather than just assert “you can do this in Linux” I set out to give actual product examples. Last week I stated some ground rules for the comparison and described option one, ClarkConnect.

With this underway it’s time for four more. These aren’t the whole list of options by any means. I haven’t included such notables as Lotus Domino but selected four titles which may be unfamiliar to you but all offer a real wallop.

Page one – introduction
Page two – Zimbra
Page three – Open-Xchange
Page four – Zarafa
Page five – Kerio and reader feedback