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I suggest you use SuSE (from Novell), or Centos ( a flavor of RedHat) if you are a new comer to the Linux environment. The reason for the choice of either OpenSuse or Centos is the support for these product and the relative ease with which you can set them up. Both distributions have nice GUI front ends which makes the Microsoft technicians feel at home.

Install Linux as a powerful and robust server

Usually during the initial installation you get to choose the packages you would like to install, and the roll that you server will fulfill. So for those not familiar with the Linux terminology here are a few things to be aware of.

Desktop environments (the graphical user interface, or GUI)

there are a few to choose from, but either Gnome or KDE will probably be the best choice for a new comer. In fact KDE will remind you somewhat of a Microsoft PC.

Web Server

For a web server you will want to install Apache (or Apache2)

Proxy Server

Linux ships with something call Squid which can turn your computer into a powerful Proxy server. A proxy server allows you to control you employees access to the Internet. For reporting on users Internet usage you need to install SARG, which you might have to down load off the Internet since SuSE at least doesn’t ship with it.

File Server

If you will be using Microsoft workstations then you will need to install Samba. Samba uses the same protocols that Microsoft uses to share folders on the network. Samba can also be configured to make your Linux server act like a Microsoft Domain controller.

Mail server

I suggest you install Postfix as the SMTP part of a mail server and either Qpopper or Dovecot for the POP or IMAP side of the mail server functionality. You need a mail server to be able to handle both sending (SMTP) and receiving requests from the mail clients (IMAP, and or POP). Qpopper can handle POP but not IMAP whereas Dovecot can handle both. Qpopper is a lot easier to setup.

If you are interested in learning how to configure these servers please visit http://www.linuxnet.co.za or keep watching this blog for more info.

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Don't dispair at the cost of software - go Linux

Running a small business can be quite a challenge. On one hand you need to be professional – ie Website, e-mail, typed documents etc. On the other hand the last thing you want to do is spend a fortune on computers and software.
If you were to buy a PC for $1000, the software alone (Operating system and Office suite) would set you back at least $350 of your total cost – that is a staggering one third!


But what if you could get away with just buying the hardware? You could cut back on your startup costs dramatically

I suggest you consider Open Source – Linux is very easy to install as a “desktop”PC and comes with loads of different programs that will allow you to run your business efficiently.
The bigger the Company the more you save!

Now you can afford a server!
Again – think Linux. For the cost of the hardware you can set up a Proxy Server, File Server, Web Server, Mail Server and Firewall. Work out how much it would cost you to set up a Microsoft server compared to going the Open Source route.

The down side of using Linux as a server:
The skills needed to setup a Linux server will cost you more that the Microsoft equivalent. But still, in my opinion, you will still come out on top. Having said that the more people who use Linux the more the cost of the skills will come down.

The up side of using Linux as a server:
Apart from the fact that there are no licensing fees to worry about, you will get a stable robust server that will keep on running. And generally speaking you can get away with a slower computer to do the same work. Linux, as an operating system is a lot less resource hungry than its counterparts.

Consider this – the majority of web servers are running Linux. There is a reason for that.

Hung up on Microsoft?

You can setup a server that your users won’t even realize they are using a Linux server, they’ll thing it’s a Microsoft server they are connecting to.

Anyway, that’s my oppion. Having started off as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and then moved into the Linux arena, I would go with Linux.