David M Williams
Sunday, 06 December 2009 18:01
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
I am no fan of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS). Yet, it
provides entry to the Windows server range of products at a reduced
price point and includes simple set-up wizards. Linux, with its diverse
range of distributions, has historically not provided a clear
easy-to-install SBS alternative. The Clear Foundation aims to change
this.
I've spoken at length in the past about why
I have no love for SBS . It's a deliberately crippled product and it has artificial limitations. It lulls its administrators and users into a false sense of security with its watered-down terminal server environment, Remote Web Workplace.
I contend that nobody actually selects SBS based on perceived feature advantages. Businesses would much rather deploy the fuller individual components, be they operating system, mail server, database server, firewall or something else.
Obviously, this comes at a price. Microsoft Exchange Server, enterprise edition, can easily weigh in at over $16,000 or more depending on the number of licenses.
This is the reason why SBS exists. It wraps up a collection of server products in a diluted form and at a reduced price. It is this price tag that sells SBS, and not because of a side-by-side feature comparison between SBS and the regular Windows Server range.
I've had SBS consultants complain that my views are unfair. Unwittingly
they explained the reason they recommend SBS isn't because it's necessarily in the customer's best interests but because they themselves do not want to know more, and they definitely don't want to support companies that grow and exceed the limitations of SBS.
Yet, I could complain as much as I wish but just as
Microsoft Windows is invariably what consumers look for when choosing a netbook so too small office administrators typically think only of SBS when considering a server platform.
It's not reasonable to place any blame on the buyers for these decisions; Linux faces a significant marketing and public awareness problem.
Slowly, the work of companies like Canonical – and its ever-popular Ubuntu distribution – as well as the good work of Linux evangelists at
Software Freedom Day and even at the
Anime Boston 2010 convention is possibly making traction.
Even so, there are Linux-leaning individuals in small companies who feel constrained to use SBS because they just do not know of any comparable, simple to install and use Linux-based alternatives.
This is the problem the Clear Foundation want to tackle head on with the release of the ClearOS 5.1 small business server Linux distribution.
