Go GNU/Linux

I work in places with lots of old systems and no record-keeping for licences. When that proprietary stuff needs to be re-installed, I just replace it with FLOSS equivalents. It simplifies my life greatly. If a certificate of authenticity is missing from a PC, I replace the OS with GNU/Linux as well. I am instituting backups/imaging/record-keeping so this may be less of a problem but FLOSS is much easier to manage. I only need one image of GNU/Linux that will run on all our PCs. I need four images of XP. When the time comes to kill XP, I can use the imaging system to deploy GNU/Linux in an evening. This proprietary stuff is too much work. I want to work for my employer, not some software vendor.

Open Source, regardless of the scale

"Given that server virtualisation is yet to become the dominant method of service delivery it could also be the case that those without challenges have yet to scale up enough to run into the issues proper."

Or use Open Source Software. There's no licensing problems with that, no matter what the scale is. Also scalability is a couple of decades better than anything Microsoft or Apple ever have done.

That's why our company runs on it, datacenter and all. (About 30 real machines, 5-20 virtual ones in every one. Not much yet but 3/4 of datacenter is currently empty, you have to start somewhere.)

Did you know that you need no less than three separate licenses to run a Windows Terminal Server with one client and two licences more for any additional clients, one on the server side and one on the client side? Of course client needs also a separate OS license, TS client license is just that. Try to keep a track on those.

Funny thing is that a powerful PC can run about five TS sessions, while same hardware under Linux handles easily 20. Without licensing problems.

But there are always those who are special.

and what about the applications?

Quite a few vendors still lock licences to hardware, resulting in VMs that need special extra care and attention whenever the virtualisation software is upgraded, or DR procedures are invoked. Not insurmountable, but another 'special case' that can easily be overlooked during normal operations (not to mention DR!)

I've said it before

and I expect I'll say it again, Windows and virtualisation are like oil and water, they simply don't mix.

This also applies to most proprietary and closed application platforms. The beauty (and sometimes problem) with virtualisation is that if you have a small requirement suddenly appear it is simple to create a new vm image and load an OSS solution on it. You can have it all up and running in an afternoon.

With payware you simply can't do that. It's like being stuck in the eighties. Every time a new application is required, you have to run the full gamut of obtaining management approval, obtaining purchasing approval, ordering the necessary stuff and then waiting for it to arrive. "Oh dear, what's that you say? We're on credit hold? Again? But I need this project done yesterday!"

No thanks, been there, done that. Not again.

As virtualisation gets more and more ubiquitous, so will server room use of OSS, just for this fact alone. The fact that it is free is just a bonus.

Techies just want to get the job done with as little involvement from the PHB's as possible. Virtualisation + OSS allows them to do that.

This does not come without it's own inherent issues however.