(Continued) So, the first question that should be asked is, "Why do these small businesses need a server?" In my limited and unscientific inquiries, I have found two answers:
1.) For a collaboration space, so we can have email, internal web, file sharing, and other collaboration services that are ours and we can do with as we please, and 2.) To host some specific application that is either a major business driver or its lack is a major business inhibitor. The first case is the more interesting and universal, I think. If you want to run your business on a CRM or ERP system that only runs on Windows, you can do it IF you have a strong enough infrastructure to keep viruses, etc. away from it. However, you need a "foundation machine" that serves as the firewall, gateway, and general infrastructure server for your business, and that's what the collaboration server becomes. I generally agree with your assessent of the software needs. I'd add SAMBA and some sort of a wiki to the list, as well as LDAP and maybe Kerberos. I don't think it's hard to configure it as a jumpstart disk (admittedly, I don't have the chops or the equipment at the moment, but I gotta think it can be done fairly easily.) for easy installation on an arbitrary piece of hardware. So, there's only one question left: what's going to make those five people sitting around in somebody's garage look around and, instead of coming to the conclusion that they need a Windows server, come to the obvious and irrefutable conclusion that they need a Solaris server? That is the very, very difficult, expensive, and time-consuming part of the project. However, no time to start like the present, eh? What do others (particularly others who have been involved in buying a "first server" for a small business) think about this? I'm not interested in something that can "also" be a desktop or a kiosk or a noise machine - just a collaboration and infrastructure server that gives a small business a platform upon which to grow. -Bill Moffitt, ex-Sun (and ex-Solaris) guy This message posted from opensolaris.org _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
