Comparing Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Operating System Analysis Report: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux as

Operating System Analysis Report: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 vs. Red Hat

Enterprise Linux as

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is a product of the Redmond-based software giant Microsoft Corporation which was founded in 1975 to supply MS-DOS Operating System or OS meant for the first generation of IBM Computers. Even after twenty-six years, it has come to be the most powerful force in the software industry, earning its founder Bill Gates millions of dollars and a vital place in the history of technology. Among the greatest plus points of Microsoft is the amazing momentum of the company for which it has never slowed down and persistently crushes its rival by being the pioneering in every market it captures. Indeed, Microsoft never loses hope, the products of the company might not be the best on the inaugural launch, but the company continually betters them in subsequent releases and launches newer versions at a faster rate. This doggedness has definitely been successful for Microsoft. (Microsoft SWOT Analysis)

On the other hand, Linux a product of the open-source software movement founded by Linus Torvaldus who began the phenomenon as a student at the University of Helsinki in 1991. He took a lead in building Linux computer Operating System with the assistance of numerous volunteer programming enthusiasts who had written several codes during their leisure hours. However that has become history and presently the community of Linux programmers has progressed in the recent years to be more established, organized and efficient and Linux has become professional. This has resulted in Linux becoming more powerful and the software is making inroads into a wide spectrum of products like servers, cell phones and robots and even NASA supercomputers which run spacecraft simulations. Its ever increasing potential is shaking up the technology industry that can be an impending threat to Microsoft's dominance and offering a novel model for creating software. (Linux Inc.)

III. Red Hat Enterprise Linux as 3.0 overview

One of the latest enterprise editions of Linux on the limelight is Red Hat Enterprise Linux-3 or RHEL which is the most recent edition of Red Hat's industrial strength open source server. Red Hat's Enterprise edition includes three distinct editions. These are the WS, as, and ES editions. The WS version caters mainly at the high-end technical desktop, the as edition is aimed for the small office or departmental servers, whereas the big-iron ES version is meant for big, real-time database servers. RHEL features several enhancements compared to the earlier versions of it. First of all, RHEL can be availed instantly on seven architectures or as indicating that it will run on just about anything one intends to target. Whereas the RHEL 2.1 is able to tackle a maximum of 8 processors and 24 GB of RAM, RHEL supports ceiling of 32 processors and a dizzying of 64 GB of memory, indicating that it is ideal for the most intensive purposes. Besides RHEL version 3 supports serial ATA devices or SATA which did not have support in RHEL 2.1. RHEL version 3 even is equipped with other improvements which confer improved scalability, performance, and manageability upon the product line. (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3: An Overview)

IV. Compare and Contrast Cost

According to the Yankee Group's independent, non-sponsored North American Linux Windows 2005 Total Cost of Ownership or TCO Comparison survey report that a majority of 88% of the corporations indicate that Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 OS gives at par or enhanced performance and dependability compared to Linux in similar usage situations. The 88% of customers who ranked Windows performance at par with or better compared to Linux shows a 12% rise from the 76% of customers those who rated Windows equal to Linux, as per the Yankee Group's 2004 TCO study. The survey stressed that businesses went on expanding ways in which they implement Linux. More than 50% of the corporations at present use Linux for several functions including Web server Email server and specialized application server. Maybe the most amazing disclosure by the survey was the reality that more than 50% of the respondents stated of having performed a thorough TCO analysis. (Tech. Briefing: Yankee Group North America Linux Windows TCO Survey)

But upon interrogating regarding their specific Linux and Windows capital expenditures and maintenance costs, 75% of the averages were unable to answer explicit queries. A fifth of the Yankee Group survey respondents who were in possession of TCO data mentioned that the most problems and occurrences which negatively and positively influence TCO and Return on Investment or ROI happen at the application layer and services segment of the software infrastructure and not at the main server OS foundation layer. Windows Server Downtime affects Companies two to three times as much as Linux Server downtime. However, this is not because of any inherent defects in the Windows server OS but rather shows the important nature of the data and applications running on Windows servers.

Windows application servers contributed to the largest downtime expenses. $5,624 per hour as against $1,168 in hourly downtime costs for similar Linux Application servers. (Tech. Briefing: Yankee Group North America Linux Windows TCO Survey) in case of desktop or home use, Linux is free of cost, but Windows is expensive, and the same applies in case of Server use. Microsoft permits a single copy of Windows to be installed in only one computer and starting with Windows XP this activation rule has been imposed. However, in Linux there is no restriction on the number of computers it is permissible to be run for no extra cost. (Linux vs. Windows)

Compare and Contrast Market Share

Over the years, Linux has come to be the strongest threat that Microsoft has ever faced. In servers, it has been predicted by the researcher IDC that the Linux market share based on unit sales will go up from 24% presently to 33% in 2007, compared with 59% for Windows, basically stagnating Microsoft at its present market share for the next three years and putting pressure on its profit margins. This is due to the fact that Linux is invading Windows market share not just other options and is compelling Microsoft to offer discounts to avoid losing out on sales. In a survey of business users under the Forrester Research Inc., 52% stated that they are at present replacing Windows servers with Linux. In the desktop market, IDC witnesses the share of Linux attaining more than twice, from 3% to 6% in 2007, while Windows would have a loss of a bit its share. IDC anticipates the total market for Linux devices and software to surge from $11 billion the previous year to 35.7 billion by 2008. (Linux Inc.)

The Linux market including servers, PCs and packaged software is anticipated to record a 26% compound annual growth rate or CAGR over a period of five years attaining a mammoth $35.7 billion by 2008 establishing the fact that Linux is no more a fringe player but rather a mainstream. IDC admitted that Linux is not being used just on new hardware only. As an alternative customers frequently reinstall existing servers to run Linux. While considering for such use as also the use of Linux for secondary OS, IDC forecasts for servers running Linux to remain 26% larger in 2008. Evidently, the big opportunity the growth comes from the server market and that is where Linux is having a stupendous amount of achievement, according to Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL. Nevertheless, in spite of the speedier growth of Linux, IDC estimated earlier this month that market share of server delivery on Linux still would be behind Microsoft Windows by 2008. (Linux Loom Larger Than Thought)

VI. Summary and Conclusion

To conclude, the future is rosy for Linux. The strong points being it being freely available, the applications are getting more and more mainstream, Open Office from Linux is an excellent product, and the Graphical User Interface or GUI is very much close to Windows and not vulnerable to the numerous viruses and worms. On this note, it is time to ask whether Microsoft is ultimately close to facing real threat from Linux in the desktop arena. The upcoming versions of Windows might be expensive and need new hardware, the two other domains where Linux competes well. It might also involve a lot of modifications. By the time it is delivered, increasing number of Linux distributions will appear like Windows while Microsoft launches a new interface. People acclimatized to the present Windows UI might object the change.