Unix Server Case

Deciding on using UNIX or windows should be a strategic decision for any firm who has at least one IT employee. It determines if you hire someone with UNIX administration skills or windows administration skills. While exceptions can be made it is best to try and stick to one or the other as much as possible unless your firm really is large enough to employ (and want to employ) both windows and UNIX administrators. You should also select the flavor of UNIX as a standard and only change as a strategic decision. (It is easier to support and maintain just one.) The decision should be made based on what is best for the business not a personal preference. There are pros and cons of both operating systems.

The number one reason that people select Windows over UNIX is that they know nothing about UNIX and cannot support or maintain it. Windows people administer windows boxes and UNIX people administer UNIX boxes. If you are not familiar with windows servers (even if your familiar with Windows desktops) then it really doesn't matter. Unix isn't as hard as most people think and you probably will have to call an outside contractor either way. Otherwise don't even think about running a server your firm cannot support. Unix (especially Linux) might be cheaper and windows might seem like an easier option. However if it cannot be maintained the business objectives will not be met and it will cost more than you can imagine. When it breaks the staff cannot fix it; and routine work suddenly becomes difficult.

UNIX servers tend to cost quite a bit less in terms of licensing costs and Linux can be legally used without paying anything. Please note that if your server is being used by a business you really should take the support, so avoid the free linux download. In general it is much easier to change vendors if you go with a flavor of UNIX rather than with any Microsoft product. Microsoft support is in addition to the software and therefore costs extra. Microsoft has historically advertised that the total cost of ownership is higher for UNIX (including Linux) than windows. However this has included the cost of converting to UNIX and is based on estimates of third party analysts who are paid by Microsoft and then selected for suitability in there advertising. The hardware is usually the same for UNIX as it is for windows servers. You can buy most servers with a preinstalled OS if you prefer. (Some further configuration and tweaking may still be appropriate.)

Any IT professional, and most novices, should automate there job as much as possible. It is much easier to do this on UNIX than it is on Windows. While windows has the ability to run batch scripts it is very limited and even with powerful scripting languages like perl installed there are not the commands available at a command line prompt to do even the most basic system maintenance tasks like compress a file or reboot