Which is better - Microsoft Windows or Linux servers? Good question - and the answer you get depends on who you’re talking to. Microsoft’s recent ad campaigns touting its servers as having a higher ROI (Return On Investment) than Linux have pervaded the IT industry, much to the audience’s amusement, horror, delight (your pick). An “independent” firm determined these results. (This may or may not be accurate; the author remains skeptical.)

These Microsoft ads whose paths I have crossed all happen to have appeared in trade magazines aimed at enterprise IT professionals, one of which I am not. My small mobile IT company deals exclusively with small businesses, all having less than 50 employees. Budget-conscious to a fault, these “little guys” care about ROI, too. Therefore, when I am making purchase recommendations, I consider factors in determining ROI that are targeted to small business needs. I ask:

1. What is the cost of the server software? This includes licensing, subscriptions, etc.

2. Does the server software require special hardware? Does the current hardware (or a hardware upgrade) suffice to run the software?
3. What, if any, special training will be required for me to perform my duties as administrator?
4. Will anyone on staff need to be trained? What is the cost of that?
5. If I were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, how difficult will it be for the company to find someone to take over support?
6. Does the company’s software run on Linux? Are there any possible conflicts? (I have yet to find a problem with this. In my experience, Linux serves anything. Desktop environments are a different story as of this writing, unfortunately.)
7. What kind of security threats will be I dealing with? Is the software a target for virus activity? What is the cost in software and my time to keep a tight rein on viruses and spyware?
8. How is the business growing? What is their 5-year plan? Will the server grow with them?
9. How dependable is the server? Will I be nursing one blue screen after another? What kind of uptime can I expect? How often will I need to restart it? How stable is it? What kinds of issues cause it to slow down, become unstable, or lock up?

Based on these questions, I can assert with confidence that every single one of my clients would benefit from Linux. Stability, security, and ease of maintenance are the main issues that attract me. The customers love the price. The only major drawback for my customers is #5. To my knowledge, I am the only Linux fanatic in the region. And that’s a shame. So we’ll continue to evangelize to the young in hopes that some of these wet-behind-the-ears whippersnappers will jump out of high school and into Linux. As I evangelize, I hope to not feel so alone in a few years. In the meantime, I’m a commodity, and that’s good for business.

[Kari Matthews]