Linux Competes with Microsoft SBS

Most small to medium-sized businesses don’t or can’t keep a dedicated tech staff on-hand to run their systems, but they still require things like file and print servers, gateways, firewalls, and perhaps even web and mail servers. To make life easier, they’ll often search for a single solution to save time, money, and space.

Microsoft has their Small Business Server for this reason. However, this locks the customer into the proprietary software and its associated problems (security, licensing, etc.) that many of us have come to Linux to avoid.

Enter ClarkConnect and Cybernet. As outlined in this NewsForge article, these two Linux-based products provide low-cost yet open solutions for the same problem. By setting up their own interfaces on top of known Linux distributions and popular software, small businesses can be up and running in no time and have the support they need to keep the box running. I’ve seen a few notes from Illinois schools using the ClarkConnect software, and it’s proven very reliable for them.

However, there’s another solution that can be obtained for free (which is generally a popular price amongst Linux Fanatics). The SME Server is based on e-smith, a product developed by Mitel, Inc. The system is Red Hat-based and provides a web server, mail server, firewall/router, and content filter all in one, easy-to-manage box. Because e-smith was based on Open software, the folks behind SME Server were able to continue its development and keep the project alive when Mitel stopped supporting it.

e-smith (as many continue to call it) has proven to be a very popular tool for Illinois schools with small budgets, and the plethora of available modules have allowed administrators to use them for file and print services as well as the intended gateway functions. If a small business owner were willing to put a little effort into managing their own systems, they could be up and running with SME fairly quickly. Indeed, many of the administrators using the systems have little to no Linux experience prior to installing it themselves.

It’s well worth a look, and there’s no reason it couldn’t be used as a home portal, either. I know at least one of the admins has installed it with his cable connection, and a few more consultants have installed it for several businesses. I’ve yet to hear any really nasty reviews about it.