Ubuntu impresses in Linux enterprise server test

Introduced in 1991, Linux boasts an estimated 67 million users worldwide according to linuxcounter.net. Free versions abound, but companies adopting Linux as part of critical infrastructure typically require more support than a community of unpaid, albeit enthusiastic, volunteers can provide.

The five products we tested — SUSE Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2, Mandriva Business Server 1.0, ClearOS 6 Professional, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS — are all enterprise server versions offering commercial support options, either at the OS level or in the form of commercial management tools and support plans.

For enterprises, the advantages of going with commercial support options include LTR (Long Term Release) versions of the software, improved interoperability, application support and legal protection if  a portion of the open source software is found to infringe on third-party intellectual property rights. Also, vendor longevity is more likely with a Linux distribution that’s backed by a commercial revenue stream.

We initially thought commercial goliath Red Hat might dominate in our tests, but in our final tally Ubuntu came out on top. Ubuntu delivered intuitive, uncluttered management tools, excellent hypervisor support, and transparency (commercial and open source versions are one and the same). Canonical also boasts progressive strategic alliances with large cloud providers. Ubuntu is also closely associated with the popular OpenStack platform.

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The remaining four contenders fell into two categories with Red Hat and SUSE representing enterprise-level offerings and Mandriva and ClearOS geared more towards small and midsize businesses. In the SMB segment ClearOS edged out Mandriva. (Watch a slideshow version of this story.)

ClearOS is easy to install, provides the most common server roles, which are easy to deploy, and has an impressive management interface that runs on a number of different devices. ClearOS can also be configured as gateway server, which we found appealing.

Cloud-wise, although ClearOS has a beta version for Amazon EC2, we would like to see support for some of the other public cloud platforms.

Mandriva, also primarily aimed at the SMB market, sports all-inclusive server roles and security features packaged into one at a reasonable price. We found the Mandriva website a bit lacking in terms of technical product information, especially for customers seeking to evaluate products.

Both Red Hat and SUSE are very robust enterprise server products with substantial customer bases. The online SUSE Studio provides a way for administrators to build a custom server appliance that will run on a variety of different virtual and cloud platforms. We also found SUSE to be one of the easier solutions to deploy and with excellent cloud support through OpenStack.

Red Hat gets high marks for its management tools, although we found some of the subscription and server management solutions a bit fragmented and cumbersome to navigate. Taking the guesswork out of whether RHEL will run on a certain hardware configuration, Red Hat certifies its server products to run a wide range of hardware from most manufacturers. Compared to some of the other vendors, we found Red Hat’s online documentation to be a notch or two above. We also liked the Red Hat Security Response Team, which constantly monitors and updates customers with information regarding security threats, and we received several notifications during the testing period.

Price-wise it is clear that Red Hat and SUSE are keeping an eye on each other, both offering basic one-year subscriptions in the mid-$300s and following each other up the price ladder for comparable solutions. Ubuntu pricing is based on a slightly different model, which offers the server software for free, but requires per-server annual subscriptions for the Ubuntu Advantage management platform.

We tested the products in three environments, physical, virtual and cloud. Our primary focus was to determine how the commercial solutions add value for customers. We were pleased to see that vendors are now tailoring products to the ever-increasing number of virtual and cloud environments, and finally providing web-based tools that simplify server management without the need to install and manage additional complex infrastructure. The web-based management tools, where available, also made quick work of our test cloud deployments. Here are the individual reviews:

Ubuntu

While the Ubuntu operating system is free and open source, Canonical offers several versions of Ubuntu Advantage, a commercial support package available in three levels; Essentials, Standard and Advanced. These solutions are available as annual subscriptions ranging from $320 for the Essentials to $1,200 per year for Advanced. These include the Landscape management platform, the Ubuntu Assurance Program (legal assurance) and various level of support. With one subscription you can manage as many physical and virtual servers as you’d like, a configuration that makes Ubuntu very cost effective.

Ubuntu’s commercial long-term release schedule allows enterprises to plan migrations over a longer time span. A standard release is typically issued every six months, while LTS (Long Term Support) releases are supported for five years. The current LTS Ubuntu server version 12.04 offers support until first quarter 2017. Version 14.04 is slated to be released in 2014 with support until 2019.

We installed version 12.04 on a 64-bit server. Ubuntu requires quite a bit more user input during installation than some of the other products we tested. In total there probably weren’t any more parameters (examples: language, time zone, keyboard layout, proxy server, disk configuration) than with some of the others, but the linear, one item at a time command-line installation process seemed fairly inefficient.

According to Canonical, the decision to forego a GUI-based installer was done to provide compatibility with the widest selection of server hardware. In any event, according to Canonical, servers are typically deployed automatically using a PXE-based server, in which case the tedium of providing installation parameters at the console is avoided.

As Ubuntu gains popularity in the public cloud, Canonical is focusing on providing optimized server images that can easily be deployed with large cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft Azure. Canonical also offers something it calls Metal as a Service (MAAS), which allows administrators to set up a physical hardware base upon which complex services, such as the Ubuntu OpenStack, can be deployed.

Ubuntu’s server orchestration management tool JuJu works both in the private and public clouds. JuJu provides developers with a set of best practices that can be developed into reusable ‘charms’ that allows customers to scale up or down services as the demand changes. For instance, one pre-built charm provides installation and setup of WordPress optimized for the cloud.

The Advantage package offers both support and legal assurance, but we were particularly impressed by the Landscape system management tools. These full-featured, web-based tools enable sysadmins to deploy and manage Ubuntu servers, both physical and virtualized. Ubuntu Landscape can run on a local server or as a hosted cloud solution provided by Canonical. We tested both and liked the sharp interface and comprehensive management and configuration options.

Landscape can monitor clients by deploying an agent that provides health metrics such as temperature, system load and memory usage to one central location where alerts can be acted on. Processes can be monitored remotely and rogue processes can be restarted or ‘killed’ remotely. Ubuntu Advantage can be configured to send email notifications when issues need attention, such as the email we received informing us that our test server needed 20 some patches installed. It also includes patch management and compliance features. This allows administrators to install, remove and update packages remotely to any Ubuntu server (physical or virtual) registered in Landscape.

A local Ubuntu installation running virtualized on a Windows server behind a firewall with a local IP can be readily managed remotely from Ubuntu’s Advantage cloud server with minimal or no changes to most firewall configuration settings.

The Ubuntu cloud infrastructure provides administrators a way of deploying an OpenStack cloud without the need for third-party proprietary add-ons. Ubuntu is also compliant with existing cloud standards such as Amazon’s EC2 API and works well with cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, HP and Rackspace. OpenStack and Ubuntu enjoy a somewhat special relationship, as Ubuntu is the reference operating system used by the OpenStack project, currently supported by well over 100 vendors (including Red Hat, Cisco, Dell, VMWare, Intel and others). It includes support for a wide range of hypervisors and network/storage components.

Similar to Red Hat and ClearOS, Ubuntu uses KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) as its default virtualization technology. KVM is part of the Ubuntu Linux kernel and takes advantage of AMD and Intel hardware virtualization extensions. Administrators can manage KVM virtual machines on Ubuntu with tools like the libvirt virtualization API or a virtual machine monitor like QEMU.

Paid technical support is available as part of the Ubuntu Advantage offering from Canonical. There is also a good online Wiki and documentation together with a very active online community that provides good support.

ClearOS

ClearOS (formely known as ClarkConnect) is developed and maintained by the Clear Foundation. Based on CentOS and Red Hat Linux, ClearOS is deployed in over 150 countries. The ClearOS Professional server edition is available in three versions; Basic, Standard and Premium. There is also a ClearBox 300 appliance that provides an all-in-one solution for up to 250 users.

ClearOS supports unlimited users without the need for additional licenses and offers network and gateway features that provide comprehensive intrusion detection and prevention.  

We installed the ClearOS Professional 6.4 version on a 64-bit server. Similar to Red Hat, ClearOS uses the Anaconda GUI installer. The minimum system requirements are fairly modest with 512MB RAM recommended, 2GB free hard disk space and a 1GHZ processor. ClearOS Professional supports up to 16 processors.

Management of the ClearOS server is achieved from a graphically appealing Web-based interface called WebConfig that runs on a variety of browsers from desktop to mobile. When first launched and connected to a server, WebConfig prompts you to go through a comprehensive wizard to configure the server and also to select any add-on applications you may want from the ClearOS Marketplace.  

We downloaded a couple of free apps to see how they integrated with WebConfig and found that these add-ons were seamlessly added to the menu in the appropriate categories. The WebConfig wizard also provides a link to the Marketplace site should you wish to browse and install additional applications. ClearOS also provides a sample framework as a starting point for developing mobile apps to manage and monitor ClearOS installations.

The dashboard type interface provides access to common server tasks from system updates and resource usage monitoring to management of gateway and firewall settings. There are also some decent on-screen reporting features with the “psychedelic disk usage wheel” displaying how disk space is being utilized. Other reporting features include a log viewer by log type as well as professional-looking resource reports. The process viewer displays all running processes along with resource usage (CPU and memory) and the ability to issue ‘kill’ commands to terminate a process.

The Clear Foundation positions itself as a pioneer in the hybrid cloud technology sector, which combines on-premise system functions with cloud applications and services. ClearOS has been using cloud connected services such as remote updates, dynamic DNS and subscription-based services for more than a decade.

While ClearOS includes KVM support built into the kernel and also supports other hypervisors like Zen and VirtualBox, it is not specifically intended to be a virtualization platform. ClearOS can operate as a guest OS on several VM platforms such as VMware and VirtualBox. There is a beta version available that runs on the Amazon EC2 cloud platform.

ClearOS comes bundled with a number of security features ready to use, including DansGuardian anti-virus and the L7 application layer packet classifier, contextual analysis and access control. ClearOS can be installed in ‘gateway mode’ that provides intrusion detection/prevention, protocol filters, firewall and proxy services from first boot.

Paid support is available through the Clear Foundation’s ClearCARE offering, which is included in the Standard and Premium versions and can be purchased on a per ticket basis for other versions. If you’re just evaluating the software, there are some helpful online video tutorials for some of the basic tasks (installation, etc.) together with partner write-ups made available by ClearOS with instructions for completing tasks such as configuring virtualization with KVM to how to setting up a VPN.

The ClearOS Marketplace is an app store that offers various add-on applications ranging from a dynamic VPN app to a DropBox app. Most of the apps currently available are developed by ClearOS, but there are some third-party ones available as well, such as a Gateway anti-malware app from Kaspersky. Most of the apps are free to download and the paid options are mostly sold on a subscription basis at around $100 per year.

The ClearOS Pro licensing model is based on 1-year subscription for one server (physical or virtual), with access to over 65 Marketplace apps and software updates.

Lite: $80 per year

Basic: $280 per year

Standard: $480 per year, includes support

Premium: $880 per year, includes support

Appliance Lease: starts at $100 per month

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is available in several versions, each optimized for a specific use, such as SAP, IBM System Z and high performance. Major releases are typically available every two to three years with service packs available between major releases. We tested SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 11 with Service Pack 2.

For those who prefer a GUI installation, the SUSE installation is one of the best we tested. It provides a wizard type install that can be run in expert mode for those who want to do some serious customizing or a more basic mode for those who just want to get started.

The default install includes pretty much everything and therefore requires more disk space, with 4GB recommended, but a smaller footprint option is also available. Going with the full install is also time-consuming, but after some initial user input the install completes on its own. During installation you can point to other media if you wish to install packages that are not bundled with the SUSE ISO.Our install booted into a Gnome desktop, but KDE and others can be used as well.

After the initial install we loaded up WebYaST in a browser to connect to the server remotely. WebYaST is a web-based console for controlling SUSE Enterprise Linux appliances. It is fairly basic, but allows administrators for perform tasks such as applying updates, managing software repositories and monitoring system resources.

By far the feature we liked the most was the cloud-based SUSE Studio which, among other things, allows you to build a SUSE appliance on the fly from the SUSE Studio website. You essentially go through a wizard that presents a number of different options and configuration parameters, and at the end you can have your customized build stored to an ISO file or various virtual machine or cloud formats, such as Zen and Hyper-V or Amazon EC2 and Azure.

From SUSE Studio you can also test drive your appliance to make sure it works as expected before downloading. We built a couple of different server appliances to run on our virtual host and both booted up properly with the correct network configuration and application details we had specified. The SUSE Studio appliance builder  shaved hours off our typical configuration tasks.

There are several management tools available for SUSE including SUSE Cloud (based on OpenStack) for managing and deploying private and public clouds, SUSE Manager, for automated provisioning, monitoring and software management and SUSE Studio, the aforementioned web based tool.

SUSE Manager 1.7 provides provisioning and deployment options, patch and update management, and tools to manage compliance with internal policies and regulatory requirements. It allows for the use of either the open source PostgreSQL database or an enterprise Oracle database. SUSE emphasizes automation to free up IT resources and perform tasks faster and more reliably.

SUSE Manager is IPv6 compatible, which opens up a variety of management and provisioning options. The SUSE Manager can be integrated with SUSE Studio.

SUSE Cloud is a commercially supported distribution of OpenStack. OpenStack supports multiple hypervisors and SUSE Cloud is no exception, with support for KVM, Hyper-V and Xen, among others. SUSE has streamlined the installation process by combining its own YaST installer with the Crowbar installer used by OpenStack.

It should be noted that SUSE and Microsoft have had an interoperability agreement since 2006, which  extends to Microsoft Azure accommodating SUSE Enterprise Linux and Hyper-V support on SUSE Cloud.

Both the KVM and Xen hypervisors are included with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. With the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack 2.1, SUSE claims you can run virtual Windows servers with near-native performance, although we did not test this. SUSE provides both graphical and command-line tools that simplify installing, configuring and managing virtualized environments.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports the Linux Foundation’s latest Carrier Grade Linux standard (CGL 4.0) and is validated for use in telecommunications environments. SUSE also provides a stateful firewall. By using the Linux netfilter, administrators can isolate networks from each other. We found that the addition of Samba 3.6 provides for easier deployment of SUSE into Windows 7 Active Directory domains. SUSE is POSIX compliant, which means it works well with other POSIX compliant operating systems such as Solaris and HP-UX. Finally, SUSE adheres to the current Linux Standards Base (LSB 4.0), which ensures compatibility with current and previous Linux versions.

Licensing model: By server (2, 4, 6 or 8 sockets, physical or virtual server), one year subscription which includes software updates and support (available for Standard and Priority versions only).

Basic: from $349 per year (software updates only)

Standard: from $799 per year (software updates and support)

Priority: from $1,499 per year (software updates and priority support)

Red Hat

We tested RHEL version 6.4 which we downloaded as an ISO and installed on a 64-bit server. Red Hat recommends using the Anaconda GUI for installation, but text mode is supported, although not all options are available. Also, Anaconda will default to text mode if it cannot detect the display drivers. The Anaconda installation interface makes it easy to perform a basic installation with very little user input beyond the standard language, time zone and root password.

There are also options to configure one or multiple Ethernet ports as well as multiple options for storage configuration. If you have a certain role in mind for the installation you can select from a list, such as Web server, Database server, Virtualization host or minimal. Selecting one of these pre-determined roles will install what you need to run the server. Since we wanted to test a variety of functions, we went with the Basic model with the option to customize.

Customization options are comprehensive and include database, web server, virtualization components, RDP, server admin tools and GUIs. You can add additional repositories such as ‘high availability’ or point to the Web for additional ones either during the installation or afterwards. After install, RHEL booted into a KDE desktop where we were able to perform additional configuration tasks.

Several management options are available for RHEL, including the Red Hat Network Satellite systems management platform. The Red Hat Network Satellite management platform is essentially a local version of the Red Hat Network, which runs centrally on Red Hat’s servers and requires an annual subscription. Satellite is a Web-based management platform for Linux installations that allows administrators to manage systems across disparate regions. Along with the basic management features, such as the ability to see the status of a server and apply patches and security updates, we liked the support for OpenSCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) with its ability to run audit scans to check for compliance with various policies.

Similar to some of the other online management tools, Red Hat Network sends email alerts when an item needs attention. For instance, we received an email alert to let us know that one of our test servers needed a critical Firefox patch applied. The notification lists information about the patch along with details about the server(s) needing attention.

The Smart Management add-on works in conjunction with the Satellite management platform or Red Hat Network. With this add-on, system administrators can manage production and development environments through provisioning, patching and configuration.

Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure is a cloud management solution that combines three products (Red Hat OpenStack, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and Red Hat CloudForms) to provide a scalable platform for both private and public clouds. CloudForms offers management across multiple public cloud providers and hypervisors.

Red Hat’s Certified Cloud Provider program seeks to test and certify cloud providers to ensure compatibility and scalability with Red Hat’s products. When hosting in the cloud, customers can purchase RHEL instances in increments, such as by the hour or by the month. This may be a good solution for organizations not ready for a full-fledged commitment to the cloud environment and also for customers with unpredictable workloads. The other option is for customers to use their own RHEL subscription with a certified Red Hat cloud provider.

RHEL 6.4 can be installed as a guest on VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installer recognizes the underlying hypervisor and installs the appropriate drivers. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is based on the KVM hypervisor and built-in to the Red Hat kernel. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and CloudForms provide a management tool for the virtualization infrastructure. Unlike previous version of RHEL, version 6.4 only has support for KVM.

RHEL comes with a feature known as Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). It was developed by Red Hat and the National Security Agency (NSA). It provides the ability to enforce role-based access control and is an integral part of the Red Hat platform, including virtual environments. Other security features are also available, ranging from firewalls to audit capabilities. The Red Hat Security Response Team addresses security vulnerabilities.

At the core of Red Hat support is a subscription model that provides the latest software, updates and patches, together with support and maintenance. The subscriptions also entitle customers to the Open Source Assurance Program, which offers legal protection.

Licensing model: Annual subscriptions are available per server with either two or four sockets. Subscriptions can be purchased with one, four or unlimited virtual guests. The below pricing is for a server with two sockets for up to one virtual guest. Subscriptions include management tools (Red Hat Network Satellite), software updates and support (standard and premium only).

1-year self-support subscription starts at $349

1-year standard subscription starts at $749

1-year premium subscription starts at $1,299

1-year Smart Management add-on starts at $192

Mandriva Business Server Soho

Once named Mandrake, Mandriva had to change its name after losing litigation with publisher Hearst over a comic strip by the same name. The Mandriva Business Server 1.0 is brand new as of February and bills itself as a full server solution with numerous business-based roles (mail, web, application, print and directory services) built in and ready to use.

By offering multiple server features and roles in one package at a reasonable price, Mandriva seeks to identify itself more as a competitor to Microsoft Small Business Server than other large commercial Linux products. For evaluation or very small business units, Mandriva Business Server is free for up to five users.

MBS Runs on any x86 64-bit processor, with 1GB RAM and 4GB of available hard drive space recommended. We installed the Mandriva Business Server 1.0 and the installation did not provide any options except to accept the license agreement and enter a password for the root account. During the first part of the install you’re presented with a Windows like presentation of features and add-ons. After installation the server can be configured with MSS (Mandriva Server Setup). MSS is a fairly basic Web interface that allows administrators to configure the basics, such as IP address, host name and DNS servers.

Once the server has been configured, it can be accessed from a Web browser through the Mandriva Management Console (MMC). This is a fairly rudimentary set of tools that allows for basic server management such as checking for and applying software updates along with managing users and services. In addition to the MMC, Mandriva has its own IT management software, Mandriva Pulse 2.

Pulse 2 is a full-featured solution that provides a host of features ranging from software deployment and management to operational supervision and maintenance. One appealing feature of Pulse 2 is its ability to manage both Linux and non-Linux installations (Windows, Mac, Unix). While we did not independently confirm this, Mandriva claims that the Pulse management software can manage in excess of 100,000 devices spread out geographically. Pulse 2 definitely provides more firepower than the MMC interface, allowing administrators to deploy security and software updates, manage hardware and software inventory along with remote diagnostics and management, to name a few.

Mandriva CloudPulse is based on the Mandriva Pulse2 and offers the same features, except in the cloud. Mandriva CloudPulse is available in several versions with the basic version costing about $2 per server per month and the Platinum version costing around $8 per month per server. Mandriva is also a stakeholder of the Aeolus Project, a French research initiative on cloud innovation. One of the resulting technologies is the Aeolus Deployment engine that allows for deployment of WordPress on a Mandriva server.

Mandriva ships with both the Xen and KVM hypervisors. It can operate as a guest on several platforms such as VMware and Virtualbox.

The Mandriva ServicePlace is an online portal providing access to add-on products and services for Mandriva. The services category is mainly support and training, ranging in cost from around $100 for installation support multiple thousands for the Enterprise Gold support plan. Most of the product add-ons, such as Web mail and instant messaging, are free or available at a nominal fee.

Licensing model: Mandriva is licensed by server with either 50 or unlimited users. The annual license fee includes software updates and support plans that provides one or three years of support.

Up to 5 users is free

Starter version: 499 Euros (up to 50 users)

Enterprise version: 999 Euros (unlimited users)

Perschke is a web and database developer with 15+ years of industry experience. You can reach her at susan@arcseven.com.