Windows Server 2012 Alternatives
Windows Server 2012 is described as ', codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth release of Windows Server. It is the server version of Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2. Two pre-release versions, a developer preview and a beta version, were released during development' and is an app in the Network & Admin category. There are more than 10 alternatives to Windows Server 2012 for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. The best alternative is CentOS, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Windows Server 2012 are Gentoo (Free, Open Source), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (Paid, Open Source), Ubuntu Server (Free, Open Source) and NethServer (Free, Open Source).
- CentOS is a community-supported, free and open source operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution.
- Gentoo Linux is a versatile, fast, highly configurable and completely free Linux and FreeBSD distribution geared towards developers and network professionals.
- Red Hat is the leader in development, deployment, and management of Linux and open source solutions for Internet infrastructure - ranging from embedded devices to secure Web servers. Red Hat was founded in 1994 by visionary entrepreneurs Bob Young and Marc Ewing.
- The leading platform for scale-out computing, Ubuntu Server helps you make the most of your infrastructure. Whether you want to deploy an OpenStack cloud, a Hadoop cluster or a 50,000-node render farm, Ubuntu Server delivers the best value scale-out performance available.
- NethServer is a CentOS-based Linux distribution for servers. The product's main feature is a modular design which makes it simple to turn the distribution into a mail server and filter, web server, groupware, firewall, web filter, IPS/IDS or VPN server.
- Free • Open Source
- Linux
- Self-Hosted
- CentOS
- ClearOS is a family of operating systems for the enterprise, small business, and home. There are three editions to choose from depending on your needs and suitable to your abilities. They are: ClearOS Enterprise, ClearOS Home, and ClearOS Core.
- Free • Open Source
- Linux
- Univention Corporate Server is a pre-configured platform to operate and manage server applications and complete IT infrastructures free of charge.
- Zentyal is a native Microsoft Active Directory implementation on Linux incorporating all the network services required in a small and medium business environment: Directory & Domain Server, Mail Server, Gateway and Infrastructure Server.
- Paid • Open Source
- Linux
Zentyal vs Windows Server 2012 opinions
Zentyals original project was to build a Linux Windows AD server. That is not the case now, it is more an Exchange Mail clone. - CoreOS is a new Linux distribution that has been rearchitected to provide features needed to run modern infrastructure stacks.
- SUSE is the original provider of the enterprise Linux distribution and the most interoperable platform for mission-critical computing. It's the only Linux recommended by VMware, Microsoft and SAP.