- David L Norris
- Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Semi-topical babble about Radio, Computers, Linux, Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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2005-03-24
Does Price Matter?
Microsoft is famous for saying that software end-user-license costs don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things. Well, let's just ponder how much money we are talking about here...
1 Windows 2003 Premium Small Business Server, 20 clients
At this point 20 people can share files or print if you had some software capable of creating/reading files or printing. Basically, it allows you to do almost nothing at this point. You have a matching set of $25,324 doorstops. (Well, you could play a killer game of pinball or solitaire!) If you need office applications you'll have to obtain an additional $14,000 worth of Microsoft Office licenses for the workstations. Not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars for whatever else you need just to begin to have a system capable of doing work. Don't forget that you'll need to spend another $10,000 or so on subscriptions for virus scanners, spyware removal, and elaborate server-side trojan/virus removal systems. To say nothing of having to either pay someone to walk around to each workstation and install security updates each week or buy a remote management system for several tens of thousands of dollars.
So, for $14,878 you have a complete Red Hat Enterprise environment. You have no money in licenses and no draconian end-user-license agreements. There is no cost for the first year of technical support and RHN subscriptions with Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation. Over the course of 3 years the total cost of the system goes up to $21,516; accounting for $2,329 per year for 20 workstation and 1 server network subscriptions. The server provides email, web, database, Java web services, and so on. You have 20 workstations which include a full compliment of office applications, development tools, a full spectrum of desktop applications, and expert technical support and remote management for one year. You can immediately get to work with this system. If you have questions you can call Red Hat and talk to an actual human without per-minute charges.
The Red Hat Network (RHN) support fees are yearly. But I'd argue that the subscription fees are much less of a cost than the time RHN saves you from manually instructing each computer to install your approved security updates. You aren't legally required to maintain a subscription in order to use RHEL; but let's assume you're going to keep the subscriptions active because RHN is a useful service. RHN provides you access to technical support services, CD ISO images of the latest versions of Red Hat operating systems, updates tailored to your specific computers, and remote management interfaces which span not just individual machines but entire classes of machines in your company.
(Note: none of this information is definitive. It's taken simply by viewing Dell's online catalog. I could have made a mistake. If so, let me know so I can correct it. Always check this stuff out for yourself. Dell prices change from day to day. The prices I mention are the lowest price I could get by customizing the system on the day I wrote this blog entry. Any trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners.)
1 Windows 2003 Premium Small Business Server, 20 clients
| Description | Quantity | Cost | Total |
| Dell PowerEdge SC420 Small Biz | 1 | $349.00 | $349.00 |
| Windows 2003 SBS Premium License | 1 | $1299.00 | $1299.00 |
| 10 Client Access Licenses | 2 | $898.00 | $1796.00 |
| Total Cost | $3444.00 | ||
20 Windows XP Professional workstations
| Description | Quantity | Cost | Total |
| Dell Precision 370 Workstation | 20 | $715.00 | $14300.00 |
| Windows XP Professional License | 20 | $379.00 | $7580.00 |
| Total Cost | $21880.00 | ||
The Complete Windows System
Well, for $25,324 you have a basic Windows system. 50% of the total cost goes toward the various (41) Windows licenses you need to run the system. You have no end-user software. You also have no technical support beyond the hardware support Dell might provide.At this point 20 people can share files or print if you had some software capable of creating/reading files or printing. Basically, it allows you to do almost nothing at this point. You have a matching set of $25,324 doorstops. (Well, you could play a killer game of pinball or solitaire!) If you need office applications you'll have to obtain an additional $14,000 worth of Microsoft Office licenses for the workstations. Not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars for whatever else you need just to begin to have a system capable of doing work. Don't forget that you'll need to spend another $10,000 or so on subscriptions for virus scanners, spyware removal, and elaborate server-side trojan/virus removal systems. To say nothing of having to either pay someone to walk around to each workstation and install security updates each week or buy a remote management system for several tens of thousands of dollars.
1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES Server, unlimited client access
| Description | Quantity | Cost | Total |
| Dell PowerEdge SC420 Small Biz | 1 | $349.00 | $349.00 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES RHN/Support | 1 | $349.00 | $349.00 |
| Client Access License (None!) | 0 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total Cost | $698.00 | ||
20 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS workstations
| Description | Quantity | Cost | Total |
| Dell Precision 370n Workstation | 20 | $709.00 | $14180.00 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS RHN/Support | 20 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total Cost | $14180.00 | ||
The Complete Red Hat Enterprise system
So, for $14,878 you have a complete Red Hat Enterprise environment. You have no money in licenses and no draconian end-user-license agreements. There is no cost for the first year of technical support and RHN subscriptions with Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation. Over the course of 3 years the total cost of the system goes up to $21,516; accounting for $2,329 per year for 20 workstation and 1 server network subscriptions. The server provides email, web, database, Java web services, and so on. You have 20 workstations which include a full compliment of office applications, development tools, a full spectrum of desktop applications, and expert technical support and remote management for one year. You can immediately get to work with this system. If you have questions you can call Red Hat and talk to an actual human without per-minute charges.
The Red Hat Network (RHN) support fees are yearly. But I'd argue that the subscription fees are much less of a cost than the time RHN saves you from manually instructing each computer to install your approved security updates. You aren't legally required to maintain a subscription in order to use RHEL; but let's assume you're going to keep the subscriptions active because RHN is a useful service. RHN provides you access to technical support services, CD ISO images of the latest versions of Red Hat operating systems, updates tailored to your specific computers, and remote management interfaces which span not just individual machines but entire classes of machines in your company.
Please Note
I'd like to take special care to point out that with Red Hat Enterprise you are paying them solely for technical support and remote management services. There are no end-user-license fees like with the Windows system. With the Windows system each of those 41 license fees you pay are for nothing more than the privilege to use Microsoft software; this removes some of the fear of having your doors busted down by federal marshalls because you might accidentally have one too many copies of Excel installed. If you need technical support for Windows you'll have to buy extremely expensive support contract or pay per minute charges on the Microsoft 900 technical support number.(Note: none of this information is definitive. It's taken simply by viewing Dell's online catalog. I could have made a mistake. If so, let me know so I can correct it. Always check this stuff out for yourself. Dell prices change from day to day. The prices I mention are the lowest price I could get by customizing the system on the day I wrote this blog entry. Any trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners.)