SME Server 7.3
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 3:16 pmSME server is a rather mature though lesser-known linux distro built for the small to medium business server.
It fits into a single CD. What distro does that any more? And because of this, it installs in about 10 to 15 minutes if you take your time. It is primarily web-managed so it's rather easy to administer. It is VERY well tweaked and as a result, is not for the Linux hacker or generalist. (That's not to say it can't be hacked on... I've done it and I do it currently, it's just not typical.)
What does it provide the small business?
1. Windows domain services complete with login scripting and the whole nine yards
2. Printer services including PDF printing if you are so inclined to hack that in there
3. Internet hosting
a. Web site hosting
b. FTP hosting
c. Email (SMTP, POP3, IMAP, Webmail) and eGroupware enterprise mail (outlook calendars, tasks and all that supported)
d. VPN (PPTP, OpenVPN and probably others)
4. Directory services using OpenLDAP
5. Network management (DHCP and Firewall/Gateway)
6. And a bunch of other stuff I haven't event looked into yet... the contribs support is VERY extensive.
I would like to run a demonstration of how easy and, so far to my experience, fool-proof this particular distro is. And I would like to have some volunteers to participate in the exercise as well. If you have any Windows boxes, laptops or VMs that we could use to join the demonstration installation's domain control, I think it might be very interesting to show how quickly we could set up a small office system from bare metal. My estimation is about 30 minutes, but the FWLUG has, for whatever reason, Murphy as a member and his rules seem to apply. (With that said, I plan to have performed at least two dress-rehearsals prior to the demonstration, so I don't expect many hiccups.)
If I find myself needing anything else, I'll post here, but I pretty much have everything I need including a projector.
It fits into a single CD. What distro does that any more? And because of this, it installs in about 10 to 15 minutes if you take your time. It is primarily web-managed so it's rather easy to administer. It is VERY well tweaked and as a result, is not for the Linux hacker or generalist. (That's not to say it can't be hacked on... I've done it and I do it currently, it's just not typical.)
What does it provide the small business?
1. Windows domain services complete with login scripting and the whole nine yards
2. Printer services including PDF printing if you are so inclined to hack that in there
3. Internet hosting
a. Web site hosting
b. FTP hosting
c. Email (SMTP, POP3, IMAP, Webmail) and eGroupware enterprise mail (outlook calendars, tasks and all that supported)
d. VPN (PPTP, OpenVPN and probably others)
4. Directory services using OpenLDAP
5. Network management (DHCP and Firewall/Gateway)
6. And a bunch of other stuff I haven't event looked into yet... the contribs support is VERY extensive.
I would like to run a demonstration of how easy and, so far to my experience, fool-proof this particular distro is. And I would like to have some volunteers to participate in the exercise as well. If you have any Windows boxes, laptops or VMs that we could use to join the demonstration installation's domain control, I think it might be very interesting to show how quickly we could set up a small office system from bare metal. My estimation is about 30 minutes, but the FWLUG has, for whatever reason, Murphy as a member and his rules seem to apply. (With that said, I plan to have performed at least two dress-rehearsals prior to the demonstration, so I don't expect many hiccups.)
If I find myself needing anything else, I'll post here, but I pretty much have everything I need including a projector.