Re: [CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
On 07/23/2010 03:57 PM John R Pierce wrote: On 07/23/10 12:05 PM, Kurt Hansen wrote: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). It's probably not well known, but Sherwin-Williams, a Fortune 100 company with two thousand shops across the country (and in some foreign countries), uses Linux in all their shops... all 2000 of them. Yep, walk into any Sherwin-Williams store and what you buy is run up on a Linux POS system. The manager who put his neck on the line by proposing and implementing this system (other (risk averse) managers in the company weren't supportive and didn't make it easy for him) ended up with a big bonus and a significant promotion. After all, he saved the company 2000 times what the Windows software would have cost... at least a million bucks, likely more. Of course at corporate headquarters they have about 250 UNIX servers to handle the back-end stuff, really not a lot of servers for a company its size. The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: - Moving to Windows Terminal server (cheaper) - Moving to Citrix with virtualized servers (more expensive but apparently much faster and more powerful). before picking an operating system for the central server, its a good idea to pick the Point-of-sale system architecture. using terminal server/citrix/nx/etc type connectivity for POS from remote locations means if the network is down, the cash registers are down. thats not good. most POS systems have a local onsite store server at each location, the registers are terminals to this server, but usually run the cash register POS software directly, then the store server communicates with the corporate mothership as needed, either live or batching transaction logs as appropriate. different sorts of retail businesses have widely varying POS requirements, for instance, the POS system for a restaurant chain is very different than the one for a auto parts chain. All these questions should be sorted out long before getting into implementation details like operating systems, hardware platforms. Wise words. Planning is always good. But Linux runs on anything, making it about as scalable as an OS can be. If your needs outgrow the hardware your data's on, you can move the whole system to bigger hardware, then re-purpose the old hardware for something else. The only reason for not having Linux on a box would be because the hardware support contract ran out. ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
[CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
Hello, This message just came across on another mailing list I am on. The little dig on Unix as being old and Windows being new got me annoyed so I wanted to reply, but with some real contacts that he asks for at the end. I figured there might be some folks who could help him out. Feel free to reply on list or to me, and I will forward on your contact info. Message follows: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: - Moving to Windows Terminal server (cheaper) - Moving to Citrix with virtualized servers (more expensive but apparently much faster and more powerful). Does anybody have any experience wotking on Citrix (or Windows Terminal Server) and have any views on them? Are there better options available for small to mid sized companies (we currently have 50 or so users logging it but expect to grow to 150-200 relatively quickly). Finally does anyone have any contacts in Spain that you coud recommend for something like this? End of quoted message. Take care, Kurt Hansen CharityWeb ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Re: [CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
2010/7/23 Kurt Hansen khan...@charityweb.net: Hello, This message just came across on another mailing list I am on. The little dig on Unix as being old and Windows being new got me annoyed so I wanted to reply, but with some real contacts that he asks for at the end. I figured there might be some folks who could help him out. Feel free to reply on list or to me, and I will forward on your contact info. Message follows: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: - Moving to Windows Terminal server (cheaper) - Moving to Citrix with virtualized servers (more expensive but apparently much faster and more powerful). Does anybody have any experience wotking on Citrix (or Windows Terminal Server) and have any views on them? Are there better options available for small to mid sized companies (we currently have 50 or so users logging it but expect to grow to 150-200 relatively quickly). Replacing old Unix with modern Linux like Centos :) LTSP or NoMachine (NX) based terminals are cool. Br, -- Eero, RHCE ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Re: [CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
Kurt Hansen wrote: Hello, This message just came across on another mailing list I am on. The little dig on Unix as being old and Windows being new got me annoyed so I wanted to reply, but with some real contacts that he asks for at the end. I figured there might be some folks who could help him out. Feel free to reply on list or to me, and I will forward on your contact info. Should I start with Dear Untrained and unqualified amateur? mark Message follows: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: - Moving to Windows Terminal server (cheaper) - Moving to Citrix with virtualized servers (more expensive but apparently much faster and more powerful). Does anybody have any experience wotking on Citrix (or Windows Terminal Server) and have any views on them? Are there better options available for small to mid sized companies (we currently have 50 or so users logging it but expect to grow to 150-200 relatively quickly). Finally does anyone have any contacts in Spain that you coud recommend for something like this? End of quoted message. Take care, Kurt Hansen CharityWeb ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Re: [CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
On Jul 23, 2010, at 3:05 PM, Kurt Hansen khan...@charityweb.net wrote: Hello, This message just came across on another mailing list I am on. The little dig on Unix as being old and Windows being new got me annoyed so I wanted to reply, but with some real contacts that he asks for at the end. I figured there might be some folks who could help him out. Feel free to reply on list or to me, and I will forward on your contact info. Message follows: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: I think you're reading into this too much. It sounds like their running an old serial or X terminal server based on SCO/HPUX or something and they are thinking of going to a Windows based terminal server. For a small company I'd probably suggest MS terminal servers, running under ESX on big hardware so they can provision them out over time. -Ross ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Re: [CentOS] Small Business support for *nix systems in Spain
On 07/23/10 12:05 PM, Kurt Hansen wrote: Our company has 30 shops that connect to a central server where the point -of-sale software runs, and is currently operating on Unix (it´s an old system we acquired when we bought another company). It seems obvious we have to replace this Unix architecture with something more modern (and better able to manage our growing needs). The computer consultants we work with have suggested two options: - Moving to Windows Terminal server (cheaper) - Moving to Citrix with virtualized servers (more expensive but apparently much faster and more powerful). before picking an operating system for the central server, its a good idea to pick the Point-of-sale system architecture. using terminal server/citrix/nx/etc type connectivity for POS from remote locations means if the network is down, the cash registers are down. thats not good. most POS systems have a local onsite store server at each location, the registers are terminals to this server, but usually run the cash register POS software directly, then the store server communicates with the corporate mothership as needed, either live or batching transaction logs as appropriate. different sorts of retail businesses have widely varying POS requirements, for instance, the POS system for a restaurant chain is very different than the one for a auto parts chain. All these questions should be sorted out long before getting into implementation details like operating systems, hardware platforms. ___ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
