From: Stephen Edwards <r a k m o u n t @primenet.remove.com>
Subject: ATTN: Consultants -- WindowsNT vs. Linux: A Cost Analysis
Date: 7 Mar 1998 02:30:02 -0700
Something perplexes me... WindowsNT advocates are always talking about how
much more UNIX costs in comparison to WindowsNT. While I'll agree,
commercial UNIXen and applications are quite expensive, I cannot help but
to be astonished by the costs associated with WindowsNT. Compared to the
costs of setting up, and maintaining freeware UNIX based networks,
Microsoft is most surely bilking the common businessman, in this author's
opinion.
This is the software I would have to purchase in order set up a
basic, useable WindowsNT based office network for 100 users. In this
scenario, I am going to hang all 100 clients off of an NT server box. We
won't go into detail about the hardware we need. I have also left off the
costs of applications, because that sort of need is too variable to
consider in this analysis. These prices are the suggested retail prices
listed on Microsoft's own web site.
Product Description Qty $/item Subtotal cost
------------------- --- -------- -------------
Microsoft WindowsNT
Server v4.0 Standard
Edition w/ 25 client
licenses 001 1619.00 1619.00
1 Extra WindowsNT
Server client
license 090 39.95 3595.50
Microsoft WindowsNT
Workstation v4.0 100 319.00 31900.00
IIS FTP Server 001 0.00 0.00
Site Server Web
site server 001 1499.00 1499.00
Microsoft Exchange
v5.5 E-mail server
w/ 25 client licenses 001 2129.00 2129.00
5 Microsoft Exchange
client licenses 015 369.00 5535.00
Microsoft Proxy
Server 001 999.00 999.00
Microsoft SQL
Server w/ 25
client licenses 001 3999.00 3999.00
5 Microsoft SQL
client licenses 015 11085.00 11085.00
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total cost for my office network w/100 clients: $62,360.00
While this total cost does seem relatively cheaper than say,
Sun's, or SCO's pricing, the customer ends up paying large
sums of money for technical support. Sun also seems to have
a much more flexible support policy than Microsoft does.
Pay Per Incident $ 195.00 per one incident
Priority Annual Support $ 1695.00 per ten incidents
Priority Plus $20,000.00 per 100 incidents
Priority Consult Line $ 195.00 per hour
Keep in mind, that these are just initial startup costs. There will also
be costs associated with employee time spent setting up the software,
which under WindowsNT, is quite lengthy, and tedious, thanks to "setup
wizards". Even if a corporation spends less on Microsoft than it would
on a set of comparable commercial UNIX offerings, freeware still has a
clear advantage.
Now... let's say I want to install a freeware UNIX based network on the
exact same hardware.
Product Description Qty $/item Subtotal cost
------------------- --- -------- -------------
Linux Kernel 2.0.33
for the server (any
freeware *BSD variant
could also be used
here) 001 0.00 0.00
Client licenses inf* 0.00 0.00
Linux for the
client boxen 100 0.00 0.00
Built-in FTP
serving capabilities 001 0.00 0.00
Apache Web Server 001 0.00 0.00
POP3 Mail Server 001 0.00 0.00
Mail Server client
licenses inf 0.00 0.00
Built in proxy
services 001 0.00 0.00
Just Logic SQLweb 001 219.00 219.00
Just Logic SQLweb
client licenses 100 0.00 0.00
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total cost for my office network w/ 100 clients: $219.00
* inf denotes an 'infinite' number allowed
And that cost is for the commercial offering alone. As for
technical support, well... here is some information taken
from http://www.ssc.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, February 12, 1998
InfoWorld announces Linux as winner in two 1997 "Best of" Awards
InfoWorld recently announced their Best Of awards. Linux was not
just awarded once, but twice! Red Hat Software was the recepient of
the InfoWorld 1997 Product Of The Year award for their Linux
distribution. The Linux user community won the award for Best
Technical Support.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linux is also steadily showing up in Hollywood. It has been used to aid
in batch processing data for movies such as "Dante's Peak", and the highly
acclaimed "Titanic". Many corporations are betting their enterprises on
Linux.
So, in conclusion, all I can see freeware doing, is improving steadily,
and giving anyone and everyone everything for nothing. Whereas, all I can
see Microsoft doing is charging more, and more for products that perform
substandardly anyhow. So, now tell me who has a cost advantage...
Please feel free to redistribute this article freely, in print, or in
electronic form.
--
Stephen S. Edwards II -- Support GNU... run UNIX... be happy.
http://www.primenet.com/~rakmount -- r a k m o u n t @primenet.remove.com
Copyright © 1998 Stephen S. Edwards II
Updated March 28, 1998