Oracle Linux vs. Proxmox VE vs. Windows Server

Oracle Linux is a very good and useful combination of the stability of Rhel and support for Oracle Databases. Our organisation uses an application and a database combo that we offer to the client but after the inclusion of Oracle Linux into our infrastructure, the provision and the operation cost are reduced significantly. So I would recommend using Oracle Linux when you are using multiple on-premises DB servers and want to move to a more secure, organised, and fast operating system.

Incentivized

We used Proxmox to implement private cloud services, for clusters
of a small number of servers, from 3 to 11 with and without high
availability. Allways with ZFS file systems, and we used to install the
root pool in SSDs mirrored and use other pools with RAID 10 in groups of
four, for the virtual machines and containers, for the backups and snapshots, we used magnetic disks with RAID 10, in groups of four. Do
not use an even number of servers because does not facilitates the
implementation of High Availability, because the corosync service must
have an odd number of servers to detect a failed server for the quorum
system. We used a variety of servers, from clone PCs with AMD Ryzen with 6 cores and 12 threads with 64 GB of RAM no ECC, to high end servers with 64 cores and 128 threads per cpu and 2 cpus per server, with AMD EPYC Rome or Milan, 2 terabytes of RAM ECC.

Incentivized

Windows Server and Active Directory is very robust and stable, it has been a staple in every IT environment I have worked in during my career. Junior to Intermediate admins can learn Windows Server easily, the user interfaces make administration tasks very easy as well as the documentation available through a vast amount of resources. There are other Operating Systems available with no GUI which has a smaller attack surface, faster update installation and reboot time. Windows Server does have the ability to remove the desktop experience, however it is not something I have had experience with and I believe most administrators choose not to remove it.

Incentivized

• We use Oracle Linux distro for every customer. The OS is very easy and absolutely free to develop/host and update our customers' apps and data across the globe. I personally use it in my lab to practice and test some personal stuff
• We have Oracle Linux database, WebLogic, and e-business suite hosted on Oracle Linux. It is used across our whole organization in running critical applications. It is robust, easy to manage and administer, with rock-solid stability and very minimal server reboots or performance issues. I would highly recommend Oracle Linux over other operating systems.
• Oracle Linux is trusted in high-volume, transactional, mission-critical production IT environments.
• Oracle’s Linux support is relied upon for applications that require continuous or near-continuous availability
• Application performance in general was enhanced as a result of the migration to Oracle Linux from Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
• Oracle Linux-based VMs are used in our case for hosting a spark-based cluster for processing big data-based workloads. Those VMs have better security configurations and are patched. It has built-in installed packages which come in handy for a developer to start the development activity for the project.
• We are using Oracle Linux as our primary Linux distribution deployed for our customers, but also for testing purposes on multiple test and UAT environments. Currently, it is used mainly by our department. We aim to provide commercial technical support for customers for our products, and thanks to the Oracle Linux Support program which covers Oracle Linux, we are getting assistance if needed.
• I work across many different types of organizations. In some cases, Oracle Linux is being used for all database servers across the entire organization. In some cases, it is being selectively rolled out to replace legacy Unix systems. Plus in a few isolated cases, I've helped to replace Windows database servers with Oracle Linux. The common theme across all these different types of organizations is that they want the best Linux for running Oracle, which is pre-tuned and optimized as well as well supported by the database vendor. Oracle Linux wins hands down on these points.

Incentivized

• BackUp System, provides extensive propiertes and verifications. An exclusive server for BackUp Administration (PBS)
• Hardware Customization. You can select several properties to adapt the hardware to your needs
• Easy administration. You will be able to manage the server with easily accessible tools such as the web console and usage statistics.
• Certificates Administration.

• 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

• TigerVNC needs some fine tuning in Oracle Linux 8.4.
• AutoTuning of Kernal Parameters for Oracle Databases based on the available hardware resources.
• Embedded IPA Solutions to manage large number of Oracle Linux Systems.
• Simple commands for LUN management.
• Proactive SELinux policy violation message to administrator's mailbox.

Incentivized

• The web UI does not work as well on mobile devices. It is useable, but a mobile optimised / responsive UI would be nice to have. There is a mobile app, so that may alleviate this issue, but I have not yet tried it.
• Support in the community forums could be better. There are paid support plans, but new users trying out the software will not have access to this. Answers to questions can sometimes be terse, and I can imagine this may put some people off.
• The wiki is a bit hit and miss with certain topics. I've often seen outdated or missing information, and the whole thing looks like it could do with some polish. I'd love to see it opened up for the community to add to.

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

Proxmox VE provides the most capable, yet stable virtualization platform in the market today. Licensing options are also competitive and cost-effective for support, and support is extremely fast and knowledgable of getting issues resolved as quickly and soundly as possible.

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.

The interface is easy to use for most of it, but still lacks screens for some configurations. Also, a few of the screens are not as intuitive as they could be. This is specially true with disk and network configuration, where some graphic/visual representations of the configurations would be very useful

Incentivized

Anyone new to IT could easily use the familiar Desktop Experience (GUI) version because we all know how to use Windows, whether a client or server version. Once an IT user is more comfortable with the operating system, they can move on to the Core version, which is the way to go in almost all situations.

Incentivized

Proxmox VE's ha-cluster functionality is very much improved, though does have a not-very-often occurrence of failure. In a 2-node cluster of Proxmox VE, HA can fail causing an instance that is supposed to migrate between the two nodes stop and fail until manually recovered through the command-line tools provided. Other than this, the HA clustering capability of Proxmox VE has proven to be reliable in 3 or more clustered environments with much less chance of these failures to occur.

Incentivized

some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect

Proxmox VE's interfacing is always fast to load, both the Web interface and the command-line tool interfaces. Reporting is practically real time almost all the time, and you can see everything in mere seconds, easily able to identify if something is wrong or it everything is in tip-top shape as always desired

Incentivized

need to improve the performance more

One of the most robust Linux distributions is Redhat, its forks have given rise to infinite business models and distributions that have defined the market. Oracle Linux, obviously developed by the tech giant Oracle, is constantly releasing a flexible and incredibly stable product while adding its own bunch of new features. Among the most notable is the "Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel" (UEK).

Incentivized

They are fast, understanding, very intelligent, know their product very well, fast, responsive, and concise. Need I say more?

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

It worked, was easy and super fast to deploy, and provided everything we needed in a matter of minutes

Incentivized

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

The Oracle Linux definitely comes on the top when it comes down to being easily available as its platform-independent. This is where the masses lie as we have moved to a hybrid work environment where keeping everyone on the same devices is no more required. Linux stands out as it allows the industry workers to implement BYOD in all environments. Software as a service is truly done by Linux. I don’t want to switch to other platforms anymore.

Incentivized

Proxmox VE is cheaper than VMware, especially upscaling an HA architecture. Compared with other free or less expensive solutions, Proxmox VE is high compatible with more types of hardware solutions and more VM types. From my point of view, Proxmox VE has no competitor at the same price level, it offers the most complete and production-ready HA solution.

Incentivized

They are different experiences, and while the other solutions offer enterprise-grade stability and, in some cases, address Windows server shortcomings (such as patching), they all do the trick, but the other solutions require a deeper technical background/configuration of items at the command line, which some people are not fully comfortable with.

Incentivized

need to reduce a lot

Proxmox VE provides everything you need to quickly add new storage mediums, network and local, as well as networking interfaces, such as using Linux standard bridges and now Open-vSwitch bridges which can be even more scalable than before. Proxmox VE 4.0 dropped support for OpenVZ in favor of the more well supported and native LXC and made an upgrade path to it very simple.

Incentivized

yes i completely agree multi deployment

i like the professional service but need to improve

• Oracle Linux provides technical advances that Solaris UNIX does not while saving millions of dollars.
• Oracle Linux supports automated patching and easy maintenance, allowing less downtime for users and developers.
• Oracle Linux is recommended for applications already on Oracle Database and using other Oracle products and software.
• Oracle Linux is a secure, stable, and high-performance operating system that allows hybrid or cloud platforms.

Incentivized

• Due to the open source nature of Proxmox, we have no licensing costs while training our employees
• We've migrated 100% of our clients to Proxmox and have found improved uptime, and flexibility.
• In the 10 years of using Proxmox, we've yet to lose any data or not be notified of backup issues.

Incentivized

• Ability to keep all files in one place and give access to users makes file management easy to control.
• VPN Access to off-site users is a plus.
• Secure access to on-site SQL data from our accounting and estimating data is a plus.

Incentivized