Книга: Fedora™ Unleashed, 2008 edition

Business Considerations

Business Considerations

Making a choice of operating system for business can often be a thorny issue. Certainly there is a monopoly already in place from Microsoft, and a lot of users have only ever used Microsoft products. This alone is a powerful argument to go down the Microsoft path, but there are other ways to implement Fedora in business. Your company may have been the target of a virus attack, or perhaps you have had to deal with one too many spyware and adware outbreaks on users desktops. Making the switch to Linux can eradicate many of these problems, increasing the uptime of users and reducing the security risk. The important thing is to work closely with the business to ensure that whatever is delivered is in line with the business requirements. If you consider that Linux is still in a minority, you need to think about how other companies will be able to work with you. Staff training and overall cost of change needs to be closely monitored at all times to ensure a smooth delivery. However, don't expect it to be perfect; anyone who has worked on a project knows that unexpected problems can and will occur, and you need to be as prepared as possible to deal with them. Bear in mind that what works for your company may not work for another, so when swapping stories over a beer with other long-suffering sysadmins, think about how their successes can be adapted to your enterprise, but also pay close attention to things that went wrong. Even better, get one of their business users to present to your users and management to demonstrate the impact that moving to Linux has had. It's surprising how much good a relationship with other companies can do for your own IT infrastructure.

One of the great things about Linux is that it allows you to try it before committing your self. What other operating system do you know that can be booted up from a single CD and allow you to have a fully operational system, complete with applications? Although it sound like black magic, this kind of thing actually exists in the form of Live CDs and there are plenty to choose from, including the two that are available for Fedora (Gnome and KDE based). Boot your system with one of these CDs to give you an idea of how well your hardware will cope with Linux.

Of course, if you are happy with the move to Linux, you can ease the change by down loading versions of OpenOffice.org, Firefox, and Thunderbird for your existing platform so that users can test them out before the migration.

Sometimes it is not always the visible changes that make the most difference. Give careful thought to the potential deployment of Linux into such areas as web servers and file and print servers. You can extend the life of existing hardware long beyond its useful "Windows" life by deploying them as print or web servers. Thankfully, Linux and open source software is pervasive enough to provide plenty of flexibility should you decide to test the water before diving in. Nowadays, popular open source applications such as OpenOffice.org are available for both Windows and Mac platforms, enabling you to try the software before deciding to switch. Also consider changing back-end systems across to Linux-based alternatives. There are many Linux equivalents to Microsoft Exchange, for example, that can handle email and calendaring. Other popular servers ripe for moving across to Linux include file and print servers, web servers, and firewalls.

Of course, if you use Fedora, you largely go it alone in terms of support, having to rely mainly on community forums and message boards (although if you go down the Red Hat Enterprise Linux route, doing so opens up commercial support channels from Red Hat).

Do not think that you have to switch everything over in one go. Linux works well in a mixed environment (including Mac OS X and Windows XP), so you can quite safely plan a step-by-step migration that allows you to implement each phase one at a time. Moving servers across to new operating systems should be done on a server-by-server basis.

Luckily, Linux can easily co-exist in a multi-OS environment, being compatible with Mac OS X, Windows, and UNIX.

We have collated some of the questions that need to be asked when considering a move to Fedora in Table B.1, "Deploying Fedora." As mentioned earlier, you need to identify the need that is going to be satisfied by moving to Fedora. Any project needs to meet a specific objective to be considered a success, so having this clear right at the start is essential. Another area of consideration is the impact to the existing computing environment. How will users cope with moving onto Linux? Are they dyed-in-the-wool Windows users who will resist any move to a different platform? Do you have the full support of management (something that is critical for projects of all sizes)? Successful changes behind the scenes, demonstrating the flexibility and choice of open source, can win management over quickly.

One of the key buzzwords to have come out of the dot-com era is total cost of ownership, and it is one that is fiercely debated when people talk about Linux. Those against Linux argue that although the software is free, the real cost comes in the amount of retraining and support necessary to move users to a new operating system. This can be circumvented by implementing Linux in situations where the end users are not directly affected, such as that web server that you have been planning to retire or the file and print server that needs more drive space. What is also often unseen is the increased availability that Linux-based systems offer companies. Quite simply, they very rarely go down, unlike their Windows counterparts. Stability counts for a lot in this modern world of e-commerce where even a few minutes can cost thousands of dollars in lost orders and new customers. Talking about stability, one of the great things about Linux is that it does not necessarily need the latest hardware to function effectively — I have a router at home that is based on an old 486 machine that I bought sometime in 1994, coupled with a minimalist Linux distribution! Think how many computers are needlessly disposed of that could be used as print servers or Internet gateways. The savings generated by sensibly recycling existing hardware are very tempting, and easily obtainable if you choose the Linux route.

In all of this, you need to be very clear what the objectives are. Specify exactly what you want to achieve from the project, what the Linux implementation will deliver, and how it will be used to replace any existing machines. What is the Linux machine replacing and what resources will be needed to maintain and support it? If you are rolling out to end users, what specific applications will they be using that you will have to provide support for?

Research is definitely a must before you embark on any project. It is also sensible to set up a test environment so that you can examine the performance of the new machine under set conditions to ensure that it functions in the way that you require. It is crucial that you spend a decent amount of time on testing because doing so will pay off in the long run with fewer bugs to fix and more positive user feedback and end-user experience.

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