Kali Linux vs. Windows Server

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Kali Linux
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Kali Linux is an open source, advanced penetration testing platform supported by Offensive Security headquartered in New York.N/A
Windows Server
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
Pricing
Kali LinuxWindows Server
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Kali LinuxWindows Server
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Best Alternatives
Kali LinuxWindows Server
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Veracode
Veracode
Score 8.9 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Veracode
Veracode
Score 8.9 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Kali LinuxWindows Server
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(6 ratings)
8.1
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(1 ratings)
8.7
(6 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(7 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.1
(19 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Kali LinuxWindows Server
Likelihood to Recommend
Offensive Security
Kali is quite honestly appropriate for use on a Test Lab, a Virtual Machine, it will even run on a Raspberry Pi. It is the most popular tool used in most all training courses. It can be uses in home labs, work labs and production environments to perform real life scans for vulnerabilities among other things. It is the most popular tool for Cybersecurity tool.
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Microsoft
If you have one user or 1000's of users (especially using Windows), Windows Server is a no-brainer! The only reason I would suggest going with a Linux server is if you have old hardware (Windows Server is more process intensive than Linux). But, Linux is open-source, so anyone can publish updates/security updates, but on the flip side, malicious people also have full access to Linux's codebase allowing for much easier writing of exploitations/viruses/malware/ransomware.
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Pros
Offensive Security
  • Provides high security.
  • Does great job with penetration testing.
  • Has good number of testing tools with in.
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Microsoft
  • Easy to use due to its intuitive graphical user interface.
  • Very popular and makes integration easier.
  • Lots of software drivers available.
  • Has many functionalities such as Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, VPN, RDP, VDI server, etc.
  • Many patches and updates available. Maybe abit too much too often.
  • Cost effective and with budget.
  • Remote desktop feature simplifies remote access to this server.
  • It has a built in VPN and ssl certificate feature.
  • Event viewer is available for alerts, although it seems too cumbersome to go through the logs.
  • If you got too many Windows systems to manage, then SCCM is an option.
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Cons
Offensive Security
  • Usage wise, it is tough for use by beginners. Can be improved.
  • With Kali Linux have noticed driver related issues especially with Nvidia graphics cards.
  • Kali Linux can be improved for use as a day to day OS.
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Microsoft
  • DHCP Server could be better - we use the router for DHCP Routing
  • Print Server - not a fan of using the server as a print server since you have to license it. Direct access to printers via IP addresses is a much more efficient way to go
  • Better backup program - we utilize a third-party program that gives us more flexibility when restoring individual files.
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Likelihood to Renew
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
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.
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Usability
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
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.
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Reliability and Availability
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
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Performance
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
need to improve the performance more
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Support Rating
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
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.
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In-Person Training
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
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Online Training
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
it was recorded session and useful
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Implementation Rating
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Offensive Security
The hard feature to be beat Kali with is the amount of preinstalled tools. I.e. Ubuntu is great but you would have to install each and every tool separately
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Microsoft
I didn't use any other system which gives the same functionality and I am not aware of any. The full integration between all components and especially the ability to integrate mail via Exchange or even via a hybrid setup with the Ofice365 cloud, including the ability to directly manage the cloud from the server, using Power Shell, is something I didn't see anywhere else.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
need to reduce a lot
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Scalability
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
yes i completely agree multi deployment
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Professional Services
Offensive Security
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
i like the professional service but need to improve
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Return on Investment
Offensive Security
  • Till now Kali Linux have not made a single penny negative impact on our companies business , its so powerful and useful at the same time for our company.
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Microsoft
  • Because of our Microsoft Campus Agreement, Windows products are fairly affordable for us and that has been a huge blessing. We are considering some Azure cloud options and some of that is covered under our Campus Agreement, making it a nice incentive to start migrating certain apps and functionality to the cloud
  • I don't have access to our budgets so I cannot give a good answer as far as the impact of ROI on our institution, but if your company can afford it, you cannot go wrong with Windows server. Not having to send your sys admins to Linux or Unix school alone is a big savings as well as not having to train your staff on using a Linux desktop instead of a Windows-based one.
  • The compatibility with end users of all varieties and platforms will definitely impact your ROI in a positive way. We have Apple users, Android, Windows, and even a few Linux end users on our campus and Windows server works quite well with all of them.
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