IBM AIX vs. Windows Server

IBM AIX is a very powerful and extremely stable operating environment. It is well suited for applications that are business critical and cannot tolerate outages. It is best used to address large enterprise level application needs where stability and scalability are of paramount importance. IBM AIX is less useful for small enterprises.

Incentivized

Anytime I need a server for something, whether to test a new platform or app, devote a server to hosting something, etc., Windows Server is my go-to choice. Recently I needed a new server to host a web server and web application, so I spun up a Windows Server 2025 VM and was up and running in no time at all.

Incentivized

• IBM AIX is a very stable server product, and I can't recall a time when the server has crashed due to a hardware fault.
• If you have legacy software that can't run on the new-fangled Linux flavors, AIX might be the way to go.
• AIX has a host of built-in management tools that makes system configuration easy for a novice.

Incentivized

• Backup of workstations & itself - reliably, consistently, with Bare-Metal Restore and deduplication
• File management and Security on a per file/folder/user basis is simple and fully done through an easy GUI
• DNS, DHCP server functions are easy to configure using the built-in GUI

Incentivized

• While there are options to install some standard Linux tools like Bash, they are not always easy to procure
• Allowing easier flexibility in how some tools and CLI options work would make it easier for admins to float between operating systems.

Incentivized

• Microsoft needs to minimize the update frequency by making the product more secure. It can become very exhausting trying to keep updated if you don't have a dedicated support team. It can become challenging where the business is unable to allow downtime for reboots as part of the update process.
• Prone to security and audit vulnerabilities.
• The operating system needs more CPU and memory resources compared to other options such as Linux.
• Understanding the licensing model can be abit confusing.
• Comes with a standard firewall, but not the most secured one available. Would suggest using a more secured firewall as part of your antivirus software.
• Due to the number of vulnerabilities and the operating system being a target for hackers, anti-virus software is a must.

Incentivized

I've carefully reviewed the servers and services currently running on Windows Server 2012, and given the opportunity would renew them as is going forward. There are two systems I currently have in place, one is a very large Linux implementation for a large ecommerce site, and one is a very large backup solution front ended by FTP servers running Linux. Neither are well suited for Windows, but the overall network infrastructure is and will be Windows Server for the foreseeable future.

AIX is robust, helps the systems administrator, is built to prevent easily made mistakes. If you are used to other variants of Unix (in particularly Linux) there is no steep learning curve to get started with AIX. You need to learn the intricacies of the operating system, but that is true for any new operating system. AIX has built-in tools for almost anything you want and has the AIX Toolbox (on the web) for tools that are not included with AIX by default, but can be installed. Installation of AIX is modular, you can select with components and features you want to have installed. Installation of additional components (and usually also removal of installed components) is easy and straight-forward.

There are simply too many different parts of Windows Server to make it a cohesive piece of software. While some of the newer features found in Windows Server 2012 and 2016 have nice UIs that are logically laid out, there are enough parts of the system that is still based on old code with clunky UIs and confusing options to make Windows Server a particularly user-friendly experience.

Incentivized

some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect

need to improve the performance more

There is lots of documentation out there for AIX. On the times I've had to address a hardware issue, IBM's support has been great.

Incentivized

Microsoft's support is hugely wide-ranging from articles online to having to contact them directly for the more serious issues. In recent years when I have contacted them directly, I have found the support o be excellent as I have found myself connected to very knowledgeable people in the field in which I needed the support. The online support available is vast and I tend to find most of the time that there is always someone out there who has had the same issue as me in the past and knows something about how to resolve it! This is the advantage of using industry standard and long-established systems such as Windows Server.

Incentivized

it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied

it was recorded session and useful

Make sure that you have detailed processes in place for every server instance you plan to install/upgrade, if possible get the base OS loaded and Windows Updates applied ahead of time, and if using a VM take a snapshot prior to installing each role, as well as along the way.

Incentivized

Compared to other Unix-like operating systems, IBM AIX is the one with a solid roadmap into the future and is likely to stay around for a long time (it is over 30 years old and still being updated with new features and components all the time). Compared to many Linux variants, the AIX operating system is more robust, easier to manage and well-supported by its vendor.

I find Microsoft Windows Server is a much easier OS to deploy and administer. It does require more resources to run, requires more security updates and overall has a larger footprint. Rebooting the Windows Server takes a much longer time than RHEL for example. An administration task such as expanding a drive in Windows can be very simple, however in RHEL it is not.

Incentivized

yes i completely agree multi deployment

• IBM AIX is more expensive but its worth to have it for the features its embedded with
• It's not suited for small customers because of the hardware cost as the ROI will be less for smaller customers.
• IBM AIX is well suited for companies who has more customers so that ROI doesn't impact.

• Support for a wide range of applications (compatibility) This is especially valuable.
• The cost of licensing is significantly higher than that of many competing solutions, which means the justification has to be more complete.
• The initial environment setup with full organization management provides a complete solution set to get started.
• Patching/Frequent updates disruptive nature must be accepted.

Incentivized