Microsoft Communication Server
Over the course of the week I had an opportunity to have an information technology exchange with another organization in the area. They showed us some great features of Microsoft Communication Server and I was quite impressed and knew I could do at least some features via open source software but wanted to know if it was possible to have a total replacement that is completely open source. The short answer is “yes AND no.” Yes you can replace it, but it takes a few open source components working together to do it.
The first question is “what does Microsoft Communication Server do?” It’s essentially a version of MSN Instant Messenger on steroids, as it not only handles instant messages and collaboration within an organization, but handles phone calls and group conferencing. As I looked around at the linux and unix offerings, I discovered Microsoft is actually late to the communications party. Many of the projects discussed have existed for a long while and are quite mature and have been used extensively in business environments.
So to replicate an environment consisting of Exchange, Active Directory, and Communication Server an open source environment could use:
- OpenLDAP and Samba for PDC/AD type functionality and file sharing
- Asterisk (technically, a Microsoft setup *still* requires Asterisk or another telephony system so this is required either way)
- Zimbra for an Exchange like mail server (Zimbra has many technological advantages in it’s own right as well)
- Openfire which operates a Jabber (XMPP) server and integrates with Asterisk, SBS, and even SugarCMS to provide a robust contender to the MS Communication Server.
Not that there is anything wrong with choosing to go the Microsoft route, but we believe that people should be able to choose their solution, and this lineup of services offers another option for organizations.
Tags: active, asterisk, communication, directory, exchange, it, jabber, ldap, Microsoft, openfire, openldap, sbs, server, xmpp, zimbra