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Server OS and Databases
Options galore
While UNIX is preferred in heavy transaction-oriented environments
for running high performance applications, there are plenty of choices in the
x86 space
 Things
haven’t changed much in the landscape of server operating systems (OS)
in the last ten years or so—at least not as far as the available choices
go. In those days it was Microsoft’s Windows NT and Novell’s NetWare
4 that were two main choices for a server OS running on commodity x86 server
hardware. On the proprietary side, the options are much the same as they were
10 years ago—UNIX variants that run on hardware from Sun, HP and IBM.
Choosing the best server operating system depends largely on a server’s
function. Today SMBs have a choice of bundles from Microsoft and Linux from
Red Hat and Novell.
On the server OS front, virtualization is one of the hot areas where it is usually
available as an add-on feature. This should help SMBs consolidate and virtualize
their application loads on virtual servers running on a single 2- or 4-way machine.
Unlike on the desktop front where users prefer Windows thanks to its ubiquity,
application availability and hardware support on the server front Linux is a
close competitor. The choice would usually depend on the IT manager’s comfort
with either. While price is a factor, most companies prefer to pay for the server
OS with a view to ensure support if things go wrong at a later date.
The popular Linux flavors on the server side are Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 11 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Another open source option is Sun Solaris
(x86), which can be downloaded free from the Web or be purchased as a licensed
version with support.
While it’s possible to support Windows file shares and run a server collaboration
application that supports Outlook on a Linux server, it’s more complex
to set up and run smoothly. On the other hand, a file server supporting Linux
workstations or an outward-facing Web server or application server is no more
difficult to set up on Linux than on Windows and will probably be more secure
in the default configuration.
On the UNIX front, the choice of server OS is governed by which server vendor’s
hardware you go in for. If you buy IBM you get AIX, HP has HP UX and Sun has
Solaris. Mid-sized businesses may prefer UNIX boxes for running their core business
applications.
The growth of database sales can be attributed to multiple factors, the key
ones being the ongoing information (both structured and unstructured) explosion
and harnessing this data intelligently to drive business growth. Additionally
organizations are increasingly relying on IT to gain a competitive edge in domestic
and overseas markets. SMBs have started deploying more off-the-shelf business
applications, such as ERP, SCM and CRM to increase their sales and operational
efficiencies. This has lead to more sales of databases for deploying these applications.
DB2, SQL Server, MySQL and Oracle are popular in the database space.
x86 Server OS
 Features:
There are two editions of Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS)—Standard
and Premium. Their licensing models are similar in that they consist of
a server license and incremental Client Access Licenses (CALs). SBS 2008
Standard Edition includes Windows Server 2008 Standard Technologies, Microsoft
Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0,
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Windows Server Update
Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office Live Small Business. The Premium Edition
adds SQL Server 2008 Standard for Small Business.
Price: Standard Edition is priced at Rs 51,727.
The price also includes a 5-pack of Small Business Server 2008 CAL Suite.
The Premium Edition is priced at Rs 90,202. The price also includes 5-pack
of Small Business Server 2008 CAL Suite for Premium users or devices,
user or device, chosen after purchase.
Contact: Sumeet Khanna
Telephone: +91-124-4158-000
Email: sumeetk@microsoft.com
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 Features:
This suite combines Windows Server 2008 Standard Technologies, Microsoft
System Center Essentials 2007, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 compatible
(free download), Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition, Microsoft
Forefront Security for Exchange Server and Microsoft Forefront Threat Management
Gateway Medium Business Edition. Windows Essential Business Server 2008
Premium Edition adds a fourth server. Premium Edition includes a copy of
Windows Server 2008 Standard and SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.
Price: Windows Essential Business Server
2008 Standard is priced at Rs 2,40,682. The Premium is priced at Rs 2,93,930
Contact: Sumeet Khanna
Telephone: +91-124-4158-000
Email: sumeetk@microsoft.com
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 Features:
It provides a solid foundation for all server workload and application requirements
while being easy to deploy and manage. The new Server Manager provides a
unified management console that simplifies and streamlines server setup,
configuration, and ongoing management. Windows PowerShell, a new command-line
shell, helps administrators automate routine system administration tasks
across multiple servers. It comes with Windows Server Hyper-V that supports
the consolidation of multiple servers as separate virtual machines running
on a single physical machine to reduce costs. This OS has been hardened
to help protect against failure and several new technologies help prevent
unauthorized connections to your networks, servers, data, and user accounts.
Price: Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based
Systems is priced at Rs 1,42,452 (Available only in Itanium version)
Contact: Sumeet Khanna
Telephone: +91-124-4158-000
Email: sumeetk@microsoft.com
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 Features:
Enterprise-class RAS features in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server help you reduce
downtime; the open source virtualization hypervisor Xen increases resource
utilization and provisions services faster. It also supports other third
party hypervisors, such as VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V, since SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server is also optimized to work with them. SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server is designed to work with Windows and other operating platforms.
Price: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for x86,
AMD64 & Intel64 (maximum 32 CPU Sockets) with 1-Year subscription
is priced at $349.00
Contact: Linet Miranda
Telephone: +91-80-4002-2300
Email: LMiranda@novell.com
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UNIX OS
 Features:
The Solaris Operating System claims more applications available for it than
for any other open operating system. Solaris 10 includes security features,
such as Process and User Rights Management, Trusted Extensions for Mandatory
Access Control, the Cryptographic Framework and Secure By Default Networking.
Dynamic Tracing (DTrace), helps real-time application debugging and optimization.
It is fully supported on more than 900 SPARC-based and x64/x86-based systems,
including systems from Sun, Dell, HP, and IBM. Predictive Self Healing,
support automatic diagnosis and recovery from hardware and application faults.
Solaris Containers, let you consolidate, isolate, and protect thousands
of applications on a single server.
Price: Starting from $432 per year for 1-2
socket for x64/x86 system on Sun / Non-Sun systems
Contact: Sun Support Center
Telephone: +91-80-4402-1234 / 1800-425-1234
Email: in_suncenter@sun.com
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 Features:
This UNIX OS runs on IBM Power Systems. It features PowerVM Workload Partitions
that reduces administration and improves system efficiency. Live Application
Mobility helps in increasing application availability while enhancing workload
manageability and energy savings. It has Workload Partitions (WPARs), a
set of new software-based system virtualization features introduced in IBM
AIX Version 6.1. It has the capability to relocate a live application into
a different AIX instance, whether it is hosted in an LPAR of the same physical
server or executing on a different physical server.
Price: License price is Rs 55,000/core for
p6 520 and has 3 years of maintenance bundled with it.
Telephone: 1800-425-3333
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/aix/index.htm
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Databases
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 Features:
Users can store data from structured, semi-structured, and unstructured
documents, such as images and rich media, directly within the database.
SQL Server 2008’s new features include policy-based management, data
compression, encryption, external key management and hot-adds for CPU
and memory. It enables data to be consumed from custom applications developed
using Microsoft .NET and Visual Studio and from within SOA and business
processes through Microsoft BizTalk Server.
Price: Standard Edition Retail 1 processor
license is priced at Rs 2,84,952 and Retail Server Plus 5 CALs is priced
at Rs 87,827
Contact: Karun Thareja
Telephone: +91-124-4158-000
Email: karunt@microsoft.com
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 Features:
The MySQL Enterprise Monitor software provides a Virtual DBA that monitors
production database applications and minimizes security vulnerabilities,
improves replication, and optimizes performance. It can be used for e-commerce,
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), and multi-terabyte Data Warehousing
applications. It is a fully integrated transaction-safe, ACID compliant
database with full commit, rollback, crash recovery and row level locking
capabilities.
Price: Starting from $599 per server per
year
Contact: Sun Support Center
Telephone: +91-80-4402-1234 / 1800-425-1234
Email: in_suncenter@sun.com
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 Features:
It offers improvements to the Deep Compression technology that first appeared
in DB2 9.1. DB2 9.7 adds the ability to compress more than just row data,
expanding to include indexes, log files, temporary tables, inline XML
data, and large objects. It automates a range of administrative tasks,
such as memory management, storage allocation and configuration management
etc. It has many capabilities for automating tasks—automated storage,
business policy maintenance and lock visualization. The database supports
server virtualization VMware ESX, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server and OS virtualization such as Solaris Zones and Parallels
Virtuozzo Containers.
Price: Rs 9,200 per license
Contact: Vaidyanathan (Vinod) Venkataraman
Telephone: 1800-425-3333 / +91-80-2678-8015
E-mail: vaivenka@in.ibm.com
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 Feature:
It is an affordable, full-featured database for servers with up to four
sockets. It includes Oracle Real Application Clusters for higher availability,
provides enterprise-class performance and security, is simple to manage,
and can easily scale as demand increases. It is also upwardly compatible
with Enterprise edition and can easily grow with you, protecting your initial
investment.
Price: Starting from $350 per user onwards
+ software update license and support
Contact: Oracle India
Telephone: 1800-425-6725 or +91-80-4029-1180 / 78 / 76 / 73
Email: oracleindia_in@oracle.com
Web site: www.oracle.com
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| Features:
It delivers industry leading performance, scalability, security and reliability
on a choice of clustered or single-servers running Windows, Linux, and UNIX.
It provides comprehensive features to easily manage the most demanding transaction
processing, business intelligence, and content management applications.
Price: Starting from $950 per user onwards
+ software update license and support
Contact: Oracle India
Telephone: 1800-425-6725 or +91-80-4029-1180 / 78 / 76 / 73
Email: oracleindia_in@oracle.com
Web site: www.oracle.com
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