Submission + - Enterprise Management with Open Source?
HalfOfOne writes: This is a repeating topic on Slashdot (No, really, I'm saying that with a straight face) but one that can and should probably be revisited every once in awhile.
As part of my job, I get asked every few months/years how close we are to being able to deploy free open source solutions (OS and Software) for a large (4000+ users) manufacturing corporation. My background is origially with Unix, but I've come into a mostly MS shop, so this is going to sound like a strawman for MS, but it's not. I honestly want to see what's out there.
So, my question to AskSlashdot is, how do the free open source alternatives stack up? Give us your personal ancedotes and recommendations:
Some seed for the discussion:
*Desktop imaging, deployment, and management
You can't go to each desk, so how do you automatically and remotely roll out your desktop OS of choice, complete with configs and software? How do you keep it up to date with minimal user interaction? How do you inventory and keep control of what's added and removed from your environment?
*Centralized Directory Management
You don't use MS AD or NDS. What directrory store do you use to centrally manage security and store information for users, groups, and all of the other odds and ends that go into your schema? Can you support a single signon structure? Can you assign security so that only certain people can see or change certain objects? Can you distribute this internationally, does it replicate quickly and is it fault tolerant?
*Communication/collaboration software
Can any free email/scheduling/contact management software integrate with your directory store for email groups, contact lists, and other info?
*Server Monitoring/Management
Can you monitor the hardware health of your servers and have it automatically alert in case of a warning or failure?
*Consistency of Integration
How well does all of it tie together? Can the look and feel be made consistent across software suites and OSes? Can John Doe from marketing/sales figure out intuitively where most things are without calling the helpdesk.
As part of my job, I get asked every few months/years how close we are to being able to deploy free open source solutions (OS and Software) for a large (4000+ users) manufacturing corporation. My background is origially with Unix, but I've come into a mostly MS shop, so this is going to sound like a strawman for MS, but it's not. I honestly want to see what's out there.
So, my question to AskSlashdot is, how do the free open source alternatives stack up? Give us your personal ancedotes and recommendations:
Some seed for the discussion:
*Desktop imaging, deployment, and management
You can't go to each desk, so how do you automatically and remotely roll out your desktop OS of choice, complete with configs and software? How do you keep it up to date with minimal user interaction? How do you inventory and keep control of what's added and removed from your environment?
*Centralized Directory Management
You don't use MS AD or NDS. What directrory store do you use to centrally manage security and store information for users, groups, and all of the other odds and ends that go into your schema? Can you support a single signon structure? Can you assign security so that only certain people can see or change certain objects? Can you distribute this internationally, does it replicate quickly and is it fault tolerant?
*Communication/collaboration software
Can any free email/scheduling/contact management software integrate with your directory store for email groups, contact lists, and other info?
*Server Monitoring/Management
Can you monitor the hardware health of your servers and have it automatically alert in case of a warning or failure?
*Consistency of Integration
How well does all of it tie together? Can the look and feel be made consistent across software suites and OSes? Can John Doe from marketing/sales figure out intuitively where most things are without calling the helpdesk.
