The best server operating system on the market today
Updated August 31, 2021

The best server operating system on the market today

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Windows Server

It is being used across both at the departmental level and also across the whole organization. At the organization level, it is being used to centrally manage Active Directory, and also centrally manage other software that is deployed to different departments. This includes SCCM, which is installed locally on Windows Server. It addresses the problem of having a good server operating system that is easy to set up, use (as compared to other servers OS's), and doesn't require a whole lot of back-end support to manage.
  • It is really good for running services such as DHCP, DNS, and Active Directory. In most environments, these are main services that run every day and are services that server administrators and other IT folks rely on in their everyday work.
  • It is good for pushing down policies to endpoints and offers a robust group policy management tool for getting this accomplished.
  • One thing that can be improved upon is making the overall OS of Windows Server more stable, meaning to avoid shutdowns or crashes, or the often need of rebooting the server to bring it to a "refresh" state.
  • It can also improve in the bootup time of when the Windows Server OS starts and is online. It seems like in many cases it can take a while for all services, etc. to be brought online and ready to use. This also affects when endpoints can connect to server resources.
  • A positive impact has been that it hasn't really required in-depth training to learn the Windows Server platform, and how to migrate within it. This, in turn, has not hurt the productivity of the IT administrators or IT staff.
  • Since our environment is mostly Windows-based, with Windows endpoints outnumbering Mac/etc. endpoints, another positive impact has been in being able to easily manage running Systems Management software on Windows Server. This is turn has made the IT dept. more efficient in being able to deploy software, and configure policies on Windows Server.
  • Windows Server
We have not really evaluated, nor used other servers OS's other than Windows Server. Since our environment is primarily Windows-based, with primarily Windows endpoints (and very few Mac or Linux endpoints), it has been the decision of the organization to use the Windows Server as the standard. Also, we rely heavily on utilizing Windows Systems Management software, Active Directory, and Group Policy Management, in our environment, which all run on Windows Server.
It goes without saying that since this is a Microsoft product, that there are good support options across the board. We not only have central IT administration to help with Windows Server issues, but can utilize all the various support channels that Microsoft offers, which includes web, phone, and email, support. Also, Microsoft has always had a good knowledge base system in place, which has good in-depth technical articles to refer to.

Do you think Windows Server delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Windows Server's feature set?

Yes

Did Windows Server live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Windows Server go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Windows Server again?

Yes

Microsoft Office 365, MS SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, OneDrive, Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan), TeamViewer, Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Zoom, Dropbox
Windows Server is well suited for environments that want an easier to use and configure server OS, as compared to some others on the market, which involve more from a set-up standpoint, and also require more ongoing maintenance on the back-end. It is less appropriate for organizations that want more control over custom configuring and setup/use of their server OS. It is also less appropriate in environments that don't have a majority of Windows endpoints, in which case another server OS might be more beneficial.