Feature: OS Shootout
The good, the bad, and the ugly

Seamus Phan , 1-Apr-2002

Sun Solaris is perhaps one of the better known OSes running big iron servers for all kinds of Internet connectivity. However, until recently, Solaris was trapped in the SPARC architecture space, and few smaller companies, consulting firms, or workgroups, could afford to purchase Sun SPARC-based serversÑuntil Sun ported its Solaris to the Intel architecture. Today, Solaris 8 runs on both SPARC and Intel boxes, and Sun has even created giveaway versions of Solaris 8, known as the Free Solaris Binary License Program.

In short, you can get Solaris 8 for the price of the CD-ROMs and shipping, and get a solid server-class OS with associated server and productivity tools.

For example, you will find Apache and MySQL for running dynamic database-driven sites. The caveat is that using open source software such as these means users face more extensive configuration, customisation, and development, unlike off-the-shelf content management and Web delivery software. But hey, they are free!

If you should run sendmail (www.sendmail.org) on Solaris 8, be aware that there are some differences between the Berkeley standard distribution of sendmail compared to SolarisÕ version (www.sendmail.org/vendor/sun/differences.html). For example, because Sun intended that 8.X+Sun versions of sendmail to be as close as possible to Berkeley sendmail while retaining backward compatibility with old V1/Sun configuration rates, anti-spam features may not work. Therefore, users must attempt to use the latest version of sendmail, at least 8.9.3 or later.

The beauty of Solaris 8 is that it offers ways to connect to legacy systems such as SNA, OSI and X.25, which are less likely to be supported by stock Windows XP, Mac OS X or even FreeBSD. And obviouslyÑsince Sun created JavaÑif you are talking Java from morning till night, then Sun Solaris 8 is probably the easiest platform to develop and deploy Java 2 applications, servlets and applets.

Solaris 8 also offers support for all major Roman languages, as well as Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Most of the major software you need, such as perl, emacs, vim, ghostscript, mySQL, snort (for network probing), KDE, KOffice, python, TCL/TK, samba, squid, and gimp, are available on the software companion CD. Of course, Sun absolves responsibility for these software when you use them.

Empowering the users

The motive of Sun is apparent. It has seen the emergence of the open source movement where good software are given away, empowering the thousands, if not millions of expert developers and users, and freeing the shackles that bound them to mainstream computer software vendors with draconian licensing and costs. This is what drove Sun to purchase Cobalt Networks several years ago, when the small Linux appliance maker was making waves selling Òall-in-oneÓ workgroup servers that empowered anyone who knew how to use a Web browser.

Today, the likes of IBM and Sun are embracing Linux in a big way, and many of their higher-end servers have been adapted to run Linux. Because of the speed and efficiency of the open source programmers in ironing out bugs and flaws, sometimes on a daily basis, many corporate adopters have begun to adopt Linux at the back-end. On the other hand, client-side Linux desktop systems are rare, as it is still impractical to re-train many end-users to switch over to Linux from Windows or MacOS.

However, the glimmer of hope for the open source movement is actually spurred not by Linux, but by OpenOffice (or StarOffice from Sun). StarOffice is a desktop productivity suite that produces and reads Microsoft-compatible data files, and some Asian governments have begun to adopt this office suite, since it is available for free, and has no per-user licensing of any kind. Microsoft is already facing an uphill struggle in emerging economies such as China. Even the Singapore government is considering open source office productivity suites.

With the open source movement driven by the initial hype of Linux, and the increase in freely available software for office productivity and server applications, Linux has penetrated most server appliances, Web hosting centres, in-house server application developers, as well as smaller companies in need of Internet connectivity and hosting.

The BSD cousins

Before Linux became popular, there was an even better alternativeÑFreeBSD. FreeBSD (www.freebsd.org) is one of the oldest derivatives of BSD 4.4 Unix, and was especially written for Intel architectures. There are also ports of FreeBSD to other architectures, including PowerPC, which ultimately resulted in the culmination of Mac OS X running on the PowerPC G3/G4 architecture.

FreeBSD is robust, and more secure than stock Linux. Out of the box, FreeBSD is a joy to use on any Intel box, and can work reliably on even low-end 386 PCs. Because it is written specifically for the Intel i386 architecture, you wonÕt find high-end OS features in FreeBSD. But that does not mean you cannot use FreeBSD to serve up workgroups and small operations. It is in fact easier to support than Linux, and is far more reliable if you donÕt want to have new builds to patch Linux.

For a small company or workgroups, FreeBSD can run the full gamut of server applications, including Apache, sendmail. BIND (for DNS), and so on. With the need for full redundancy, you should consider running separate FreeBSD-equipped Intel boxes for e-mail, ftp, Web and DNS. It makes economic and practical sense to provide redundancy using a stable Unix variants and inexpensive PC hardware.

But FreeBSD does have limitations, and thatÕs where AppleÕs Mac OS X comes in. Mac OS X runs on more efficient G3 and G4 PowerPC CPUs, and is adapted for multiprocessor computations as well. Although not every application has been adapted for multiprocessor computation, some open source software, including server applications, can stream requests to multiple processors. Currently, there arenÕt quad-processor versions of Macs, and so you are stuck with two CPUs. However, that is more than enough for workgroups and medium traffic sites.

Both FreeBSD and Mac OS X offers Apache built in. Note that Apache is easier to configure on the higher-end Mac OS X Server (which is optimised for server delivery) than on an OS X client, unless you are command-line capable. Otherwise, you may want to opt for iTools from Tenon (www.tenon.com), which provides a web-based configuration console for Apache.

Because OS X is positioned more as a client OS, even though it has plenty of server services right out of the box, not all of the server applications are the most current. You have to dabble with command line and root access in order to install updates to apps like Apache and MySQL. In fact, even the basic sendmail is ill-configured in OS X when first installed on your machine; you have to uncomment the line that calls to Òlocal-host-namesÓ before you can run local sendmail.

Both FreeBSD and OS X offer built-in packet filtering firewalls, rudimentary in todayÕs standards, but useful to turn on nonetheless. On OS X, you can use a graphically-rich console to configure your firewall, known as BrickWall. For the purpose of running intranet services, you may also consider using DHCP and NAT with a fixed local IP. In addition, your workgroup server can be configured to deny traffic for known troublesome applications, such as instant messaging (IM) and ICQ, as well as block ports for streaming media to reduce high-bandwidth content.

If you prefer not to use Apache, you can also run Webstar (www.webstar.com), a venerable Mac-based Web server application. The beauty of Webstar is that it faces few intrusion attempts and has less flaws, unlike most other enterprise-class or open source software.

Like Solaris 8, Mac OS X has built in support for major Roman languages, and double-byte languages such as Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean. You can create localised, multi-lingual Web content, and create database-driven sites running on mySQL, perl or PHP, to cater to different audiences.

Windows XP to the fore

Windows XP was to be the OS X of Intel boxes, and for most parts, it delivered. In terms of look-and-feel, it has adopted the same ÒjellybeanÓ like appearance, similar to OS X. Microsoft also made it much easier to configure new hardware, and XP can generally recognise and configure your hardware quite well. Many of the security flaws were also eradicated from XP compared to earlier Windows versions.

If you intend to use XP as your workgroup server OS, you must purchase the Professional, which includes MicrosoftÕs Internet Information Server (IIS). However, instead of becoming complacent and using the built-in IIS, I would advise switching to Apache or other Web servers instead as IIS is often the target of malicious work. Of course, you cannot run Active Server Pages (ASP) using Web servers link Apache, but there are other server applications with similar dynamic functions.

Getting Apache to run on Windows XP is a bit simpler than on OS X or FreeBSD, as Apache is simply installed via the Windows Installer Package. Once installed, Apache is placed in the Apache httpd server section of ÒStart>All ProgramsÓ menu. You can place your Web documents in the ÒC:FilesGroupÓ directory.

Since Windows XP turns off external access to your PC by default (a security measure), you need to go to ÒControl Panels>Network ConnectionsÓ and click on the ÒStatusÓ button of ÒLocal Area ConnectionÓ. Then click on the ÒAdvancedÓ tab and look for ÒSettingsÓ. You can then check HTTP and Secure HTTP boxes to open up the required ports. As with any OS, including Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD or Mac OS X, port 80 is frequently called by attack hosts, and you may want to re-designate another port for Web access instead.

Windows XP does not come with the full suite of Internet server services built in, unlike most other Unix variants such as Solaris 8, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. Therefore, Windows XP users who intend to use XP as the workgroup server OS have to acquire or download these server components, such as sendmail, and install them manually.

Although Exchange is a robust e-mail server platform, you may want to consider not using it, because many hackers write malicious code that specifically targets Exchange. Instead try running sendmail with antispam protection and anti-virus content filtering mechanisms, or Qmail (www.qmail.org) and Postfix (www.postfix.cs.uu.nl).

Windows XP supports symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and like Mac OS X, can support up to two CPUs. Recent findings show that Windows XP running on modern Pentium 4 processors (1 GHz and above) can operate more efficiently than OS X, which has to ÒmarryÓ age-old BSD code with the Aqua window-dressing.

But if raw speed is what you are looking for, then an OS like FreeBSDÑespecially if you run it in command line mode without any window managerÑcan fly past any version of Windows or Mac OS, simply because the machine does not have to deal with any windowing or graphics routines. Sun Solaris 8 is quite efficient as well, and depending on which window manager you choose, may create varying operating efficiencies.

So whatÕs your pet OS?

Do not feel compelled by public ÒnoiseÓ to sway your choice for a workgroup or small company server OS. There are too many self-anointed ÒevangelistsÓ out there who will sing the praise of one OS in deference of another. However, each of these OSes have their merits and demerits.

For example, it is far easier to integrate Windows XP into an entire Windows neighbourhood, although that also means you have to manually download and install most of the Internet services such as Apache and sendmail yourself.

FreeBSD is also a good option, but not exactly good for the technically-challenged. Sun Solaris 8 has implemented most of the ease of use of modern graphically rich OSes such as Windows XP and Mac OS X, but it is still meant for big-iron servers and requires more technical knowledge than most small companies or functional workgroups would have.

Mac OS X is also a viable option, and requires little rework, but that may possibly mean a lone piece of hardware in the ocean of Windows PCs. At the end of the day, choose the OS that you can run your preferred server services on, and be prepared to do night study to reduce maintenance or support issues later.

Sidebar: Wireless support

The easiest platforms that support 802.11b WLANs out of the box with plug-and-play are Windows XP and Mac OS X. These two platforms are made to support 802.11b with little fuss, including infrastructure and ad-hoc peer-to-peer mode.

There are also public source drivers for FreeBSD, but it requires root and command line work to get your workgroup server going. Sun Solaris has improved support for 802.11b, but it is still tougher to support 802.11b on Solaris boxes, especially if you happen to use older architecture boxes. But most modern PCI-bus boxes should be fine.