In 2000, Microsoft introduced its Small Business Server and practically invented the category at the same time, but the company no longer offers the product today. In the world of Linux, however, a number of servers and platforms wrestle for the favor of small companies that must provide things like print and data services in heterogeneous networks.

Small business servers are tailored to the needs of small businesses with 10 to 50 employees, even if the idea of running all services on a single server is a hair-raising thought for admins of large companies. However, as a rule, they also have access to an extensive battery of tools for deployment, virtualization, backup, and monitoring, as well as a hierarchical team of staff to care for it. If, for example, you forget about theoretical ideals for a contemporary IT organization and take a close look at how small companies really work, the following picture becomes clear: Usually, there's no full-time administrator. If there is one, it is someone with above-average IT knowledge. Often, an ex-web designer or an electronics/PLC specialist with IT knowledge limited to Windows is given the responsibility.

Cross Section

A common denominator of the products designated as small business servers – in contrast to normal Linux servers – is the availability of management functions through a graphical user interface. A GUI caters to the target group: admins with limited Linux know-how. Often, this takes the form of a web interface.

The market offers plenty of alternatives in this sector. Univention, one of the best known manufacturers, offers Univention Corporate Server (UCS) [1] both as a pure infrastructure solution, as well as with installed applications, such as a Groupware stack . Moreover, a number of third-party products and manufacturers base their products on a certified UCS machine, such as Open-Xchange with their Open-Xchange Advanced Server Edition (OXASE) or the Appliance Edition of Zarafa.

In this article, I look at the Zentyal all-in-one server manufactured by eBox, the ClearOS Community Edition from the Clear Foundation, and the Community Edition of the Resara server. Although I occasionally use UCS as a reference, I will not give a detailed introduction here because it has been covered before [2].

Zentyal Servers

Zentyal is an Ubuntu-based Small Business Server distributed in the past under the name "eBox." The product is developed by the Spanish open source company eBox Technologies, and it is available as a free Basic Subscription as well as a Business and Enterprise Edition [3]. Essentially, the differences lie in the number of users and the update services included [4].

The eBox business model is based on yearly support contracts and the server, which is available with various support levels and complementary services. The current 64-bit Zentyal 2.2-2 Community Edition used for this test is also available in a 32-bit version and as a virtual machine image. According to the Zentyal roadmap, version 3.0 was about to be released at the time of testing, but at the time of writing, it was not yet available. Zentyal 3.0 promises, above all, integration of Samba 4, placing Zentyal in direct competition with UCS and Resara in the area of Windows file services.

Unfortunately, version 2.2, available since September 2011, is no longer up to date as far as software packages are concerned, which in some cases could lead to weaknesses in security. Version 2.2 runs on top of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, whereas v3.0 [5] makes the jump to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. As an alternative, the beta version 2.3 is available for download.

Building Under Ubuntu

Targeted at small and medium-size enterprises as alternative to Microsoft Small Business Server, the Zentyal server offers numerous functions in the areas of routing/gateway, network infrastructure, collaboration (e.g., Zarafa), security, and communication that can be managed via a web interface. Installation is based on the Ubuntu installer but does without its graphical variation. The Ubuntu Alternate Installer requires no interaction except to specify a user account for the system user, hostname, and desired keyboard layout.

As an alternative to the standard mode, the boot menu offers an expert mode with which experienced Linux users can integrate Ubuntu repositories (e.g., Apt configuration), retrieve updated Ubuntu packages from a network mirror, or manually partition the hard drive. Both variations have entries in the boot menu for installing subscription versions.

After rebooting, the automatic login opens a Firefox window on the Ubuntu system with the login page of the Zentyal administrative web interface, in which admins log in as the system user created during installation. Alternatively, the interface can be accessed from any host in the network via HTTPS. After the first login, the system displays an overview of the available packages. When admins click on one of the five large icons at the top of the screen, the GUI highlights the packages relevant to that topic. Admins can choose any combination of packages needed, and if desired, install them all at the same time, including the free Zarafa version.