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If you've been through the hardware acquisition cycle
a few times, already, and have more computers than you
know what to do with, then you may be giving another
look at the Open Source® movement - because systems
that aren't powerful enough to run Windows XP, or even
Windows NT, may still be perfectly adequate for use
delivering UNIX-based services - such as LDAP, Samba,
DNS, WAP, or even protecting your network boundaries.
Let's do some back-of-the-envelope calculations, to
see what you can expect to pay for an equivalent Open
Source server, installed manually ... regardless
of which 'free' operating system you actually use.
Estimated cost of installing one Open
Source® server, manually
| provider |
your cost |
duration |
total cost |
comments |
| student |
$20/hr |
40 hrs |
$600 |
minimal, more to do |
| student |
$20/hr |
400 hrs |
$6000 |
too long, too much |
| employee |
$40/hr |
40 hrs |
$1600 |
minimal, more to do |
| employee |
$40/hr |
80 hrs |
$3200 |
too long, too much |
| contractor |
$80/hr |
20 hrs |
$1600 |
minimal, more to do |
| contractor |
$80/hr |
40 hrs |
$3200 |
too much |
| contractor |
$80/hr |
80 hrs |
$6400 |
too much |
| vendor's FE |
$200/hr |
40 hrs |
$8000 |
too much |
In these calculations, we haven't even factored in the
cost of the hardware. Sure, if you don't mind spending
$50,000 or more for a piece of hardware that will be
obsolete in four years, and unsupported in six years,
spending another $10,000 for a consultant to install
and configure this over a leisurely period of several
weeks is just a technicality. We haven't even
discussed yearly support contracts.
For many businesses, it doesn't seem right that
the cost of the installation should approach, or exceed,
the cost of the computer itself. They are right. The
only reason it costs so much is because each server
and each piece of software is manually installed.
It doesn't need to be that way. The entire task can be
accomplished, automatically, in less than an hour.
From dead PC to fully installed UNIX server ... with
latest OpenSSL, OpenSSH, Apache, or Samba, fully configured
firewall, and much more.
In less than 60 minutes, you can reap
the benefits of over 20 years of solid,
industrial strength computing experience and have a
server that will run for a year, or more, without
needing to be rebooted. It's that good.
Compare these estimates, against our reasonable
per-installation rate of $1000 per server,
for a fully installed system, warrantied, for 90
days, to be free of defects - with one week of
free technical support - and you will quickly
see why we think a Daemonized TM
server is, not just the fastest, not just the most
cost-effective, but the all-around best
solution, to your industrial computing needs.
(Volume rates are available; please
contact us.)
We also offer onsite consulting services, at a very
reasonable rate of $90.00/hour; $80.00/hour if we are
able to complete our billing cycle the same day.
We offer special rates for 501(c)(3) non-profit
organizations ... very small businesses ... and
individuals. If you're interested, again, please
contact us.
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