A local fast food chain has asked you to help with its server upgrades. The comp

Question

A local fast food chain has asked you to help with its server upgrades. The company has used Windows Server 2003 until now, but because it's under new management and because it just acquired a few smaller restaurants, the IT department wants to reconsider its network strategy. Amongst other tings they will purchase new server hardware for each of its main locations. It might also upgrade the NOS to Windows Server 2012 R2. You meet with a team of employees at the company but unfortunately none has had a change to compare the different NOS available.
a. What are the features that would make Windows Server 2012 R2 the right choice? Specifically, how might it contribute towards better security? How does it fare in network management and how might it facilitate smoother remote connections between the newly acquired restaurants and the fast food chain?
b. One of the IT team argues that the company should install a Linux based NOS, mostly due to budgeting concerns. What can you advise the IT administrator about the capabilities of Linux versus Windows Server 2012 R2? What benefits and drawbacks would there be to choosing Linux over Windows?
c. Based on (a) and (b) above, which NOS would you recommend and why? State any assumptions made (if any) in reaching your conclusion.

Explanation / Answer

"If u have time i can help u with bit A"

b)

1.OS stability:

>Linux has a reputation for stability that Windows Server does not, but this is an outdated point. Recent Windows Server operating system versions, from 2003 on, are stable and increasingly so.Both Windows and Linux OSes can only be brought down by hardware with faulty drivers. Don't choose a server OS based on outdated notions of stability: Windows and Linux are at the same level here.

>Windows Server became a stable operating system over at least the last ten years thanks to rigorous hardware testing and a logo certification program for compatibility guarantees with various hardware devices

2.Cost of ownership in the data center.

> *It's true, Linux is a free operating system. But running Linux in the data center will cost you. The free distributions of Linux don't meet enterprise needs because they offer no guarantees. So let's dispel the myth that Linux is free and Windows is not.
*Most companies want the best possible reliability on servers for a good price. Linux itself is free; you'll pay for support. That is why the best Linux server OSes come from vendors such as Red Hat and SUSE that charge for support contracts.
*Linux is less expensive than Windows Server because of the pricing structure. There's no such thing as per-user licensing of Linux distributions,
For example, so the potential cost saving of migrating servers from Windows to Linux is significant.

>Windows has long had a reputation as an expensive operating system, thanks to the price of the server OS combined with the required Client Access Licenses. Although Windows will likely always be more expensive to license than Linux, Microsoft is making changes to the licensing requirements for some products to appeal to organizations in which users deploy multiple devices.

3.Security for corporate IT

> *Anyone can look at how an open source operating system like Linux is organized. Some people consider this a disadvantage for security. However, the fact that various interested parties freely access different aspects of the operating system makes it easy to detect and fix bugs. In a proprietary operating system like Windows Server, the company using the software can observe a bug but cannot fix i
*While open source doesn't hide the operating system's inner workings, security is a part of the Linux kernel, and sophisticated mandatory access control systems like Security-Enhanced Linux, invented in collaboration with the U.S. National Security Administration and Red Hat, are built on top of that. Security administrators can block all unneeded system calls, for example. There is nothing comparable to SELinux for Windows Server.

> Microsoft routinely releases security patches for the Windows Server operating system as new vulnerabilities are discovered. Microsoft also provides extensive documentation on how to use built-in Windows Server security controls, as well as tips for establishing a network architecture that achieves the best possible security.

4.Corporate authentication

>One area where Windows servers are still huge is corporate authentication. Active Directory is a full authentication and authorization platform that integrated applications, users, computers and other resources. Linux alternatives to Active Directory don't have the same support of devices and applications.

>Microsoft Active Directory is the de facto standard for authentication because it is solid, reliable and secure, and in addition is widely supported by an array of third-party products.

Conclusion:

While Linux is a threat in the data center, Windows continues long-time domination on the desktop. And the two OSes aren't mortal enemies -- sometimes Hyper-V can give a boost to Linux VMs.

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